Dolly Parton, who died on Tuesday, August 25, at age 80 following a short illness with cancer, previously revealed the inspiration behind her famous 1973 hit, Jolene. The country music icon enjoyed a career spanning nearly six decades after first finding fame as a teenager.
The Story Behind the Song
Parton revealed that Jolene was written about a redhead bank teller who gave her late husband, Carl Dean, a little too much attention. However, the name for the track came from another red-haired female, who was only eight years old at the time.
The 9 to 5 singer recalled that in the late 1960s, during the early days of her music career, she used to sign autographs for fans each night after the broadcast of The Porter Wagoner Show, which launched her singing career.
An Innocent Song
Parton said: "One night, I was on stage, and there was this beautiful little girl - she was probably 8 years old at the time. And she had this beautiful red hair, this beautiful skin, these beautiful green eyes, and she was looking up at me, holding, you know, for an autograph. I said, 'Well, you're the prettiest little thing I ever saw. So what is your name?' And she said, 'Jolene.' And I said, 'Jolene. Jolene. Jolene. Jolene.' I said, 'That is pretty. That sounds like a song. I'm going to write a song about that.'"
Parton kept her word, later releasing Jolene in 1973 about a woman who regularly spoke to her husband when he visited the bank. The star said: "She's got this terrible crush on my husband. And he just loved going to the bank because she paid him so much attention. It was kinda like a running joke between us - when I was saying, 'Hell, you're spending a lot of time at the bank. I don't believe we've got that kind of money.' So it's really an innocent song all around, but sounds like a dreadful one."
A Memorable Hit
The iconic song is just 200 words long due to much of it being repetition, but it went on to become one of Parton's most famous hits. The country singer previously said that the simplicity of the song, along with its haunting melody, is what makes the character of Jolene so memorable.
She said: "It's a great chord progression - people love that 'Jolene' lick. It's as much a part of the song almost as the song. And because it's just the same word over and over, even a first-grader or a baby can sing, 'Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene.' It's like, how hard can that be?"
Death Announcement
Parton died aged 80 on Tuesday, August 25. Her nephew, Bryan Seaver, announced her death on Tuesday afternoon in a video announcement that left fans across the world devastated. He said: "Sadness lies with us, not with Dolly," claiming the beloved legend would finally be reunited with Carl in heaven. "Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by Carl, her parents and countless others who have watched her and longed to meet her in the heavens."
