By now we’re all familiar with the remarkable trajectory of Sabrina Carpenter’s career over this past year. Going from an ex-Disney kid with a handful of underrated teenage pop albums to an international superstar with her own Vogue cover, she’s made her mark on the music industry. Celebrities with status like that can have access to anyone they want for a collaboration or partnership, so on the recently dropped deluxe version of her Grammy-winning “Short and Sweet” album, Carpenter released a reimagined version of “Please Please Please” with the one and only Dolly Parton as a feature.
I nearly had a heart attack when I first heard this track was being released because I have idolized Parton for years; my family and I visited her Dollywood amusement park in Pigeon Forge, TN back in 2016 and we technically named our cat in her honor.
While some of the sound mixing is a little clunky at times, I loved the revamped country-twang aesthetic that, when combined with already very Parton sounding lyrics, created an adorable, bright track that everyone could tell meant the world to both of them.
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However, upon taking to the internet, everyone seemed to have problems with the wrong aspects of this collaboration. I already admitted some of the mixing sounded a tad off, so those comments are permitted, but the majority of the reactions I’ve been seeing are criticizing Parton’s involvement entirely. There was comment after comment of people using the grandma emoji as a means of attacking how Parton’s voice sounded on the track. This is where we have crossed a line. I have to assume that the majority of this bullying is coming from young kids that are very new to music and social media and only know about what’s trending. While it’s typical of children to make fun of what they don’t understand, it’s absolutely time for a history lesson in respecting the trailblazers of the music industry.
Yes, Dolly Parton is 79 years old, but that does not mean we get to make fun of her age because how many 79-year-olds can you name that still have the youngest, hottest pop stars knocking at their door for a favor? Very few celebrities still carry that kind of weight after their initial embankment into fame, especially female celebrities who are often deemed useless by Hollywood after they start to show one wrinkle.
“She started writing songs at age five, and by the time she was ten was making $20 a week singing on a Knoxville television show. In 1964, the day after becoming the first in her family to graduate from high school, she packed a cardboard suitcase and boarded a bus headed for Nashville,” Ken Burns said in a PBS special on Parton.
From then on, her incredible country music career spanned about 60 years, starting with her debut album “Hello, I’m Dolly” in 1967 when she was just 21 years old. Over that time, she sold over 100 million records worldwide, more than earning her musical legend status. Many of her 49 studio albums have reached either gold, platinum or multi platinum status, and 25 of her singles have hit number one on Billboard’s country music charts.
In addition to praise for her music, Parton has ample experience in acting, starring in several iconic, critically acclaimed films like “9 to 5” and “Steel Magnolias.” Parton has 11 Grammy awards as well as two Oscar nominations for Best Original Song, six Golden Globe nominations for both singing and acting, one Tony nomination and one Emmy nomination, making her one of a select few to have nominations across each of the famed EGOT categories.
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Even if you’ve somehow never heard “I Will Always Love You” (yes, that was her song before Whitney Houston covered it) or “Jolene,” I’ll bet anything you know what Dolly Parton looks like. Every single time she goes outside she is a walking feminist movement. She has perfectly sculpted hourglass proportions, larger than life platinum blonde wigs and dramatically applied makeup that has inspired famous drag queens like Trixie Mattel for years.
Parton has famously said that she patterned her look after the local “tramp” of her small Tennessee home town, stating, “I make jokes about it, but it’s the truth that I kind of patterned my look after the town tramp. I didn’t know what she was, just this woman who was blond and piled her hair up, wore high heels and tight skirts, and, boy, she was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen. Momma used to say, ‘Aw, she’s just trash,’ and I thought, ‘That’s what I want to be when I grow up. Trash.’”
Parton’s take on female beauty was years ahead of her time, basically founding the idea that women don’t have to sacrifice their feminine traits to be good feminists, reminding her female audience that if dressing a little “trampy” makes them feel confident and beautiful, then that’s exactly what they should do. Despite what anyone else thinks, Parton has always championed being unapologetically herself. Remember the outfit she wore when she performed at the Dallas Cowboys halftime show last fall? Nobody knows the power of a woman, especially an older woman, still owning and loving her appearance like she does.
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Despite her impact on pop culture history, Parton’s efforts in philanthropy and humanitarian efforts are the most admirable accomplishments of her career. In 2022, she was awarded with the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy for her charitability, stating in her acceptance speech, “I just give from my heart. I never know what I’m going to do or why I’m going to do it. I just see a need, and if I can fill it, then I will.”
Some of her most noteworthy efforts include The Dollywood Foundation, a non-profit she founded back in 1988 designed to help decrease the high school dropout rate of local Tennessee high schools, and her initiative was successful, lowering the dropout rate from 35% to 6%. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library was added as an addition to The Dollywood Foundation in 1995.
“The program gifts children under five a book monthly to help with literacy and further learning in all areas of the country — and internationally. In 2018, Parton reached a milestone as the Imagination Library sent out its 100 millionth book,” according to US Weekly.
Her efforts are not limited to the past, because in 2020 Parton donated $1 million to aid in the development of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccination. Then, most recently, she pledged a million dollars “to the Mountain Ways Foundation, which helped East Tennessee communities that were impacted by Hurricane Helene.” With scholarship creations and natural disaster relief funds paid for all through her own pocket or through successful fundraising events, Parton more than earned her 2022 accolade.
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Dolly Parton is an absolute gift to this Earth. Whether it’s the music industry, the film industry, how she empowers women or her generosity to important causes, there is nothing she won’t win over with her heart and commitment to being herself. Parton’s ability to spread unlimited kindness towards all minority groups makes her representative of the true spirit of southern, Christian goodness, and being reminded of what real love looks like is exactly what we need now and always. So next time you think about skipping the new version of “Please Please Please,” at least remember to honor Dolly Parton’s clear influence on all your favorite pop princesses who decide to write country tracks.
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