Dolly Parton, the country music legend, has died at the age of 80 after a brief battle with cancer, her team announced. Tributes have poured in from fans and public figures, including former US President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump.
Parton was known for her music, authenticity and humour, and for being open in interviews, but she tended to avoid discussing politics. In a rare 2016 comment, she spoke about Hillary Clinton becoming president, which prompted some backlash from fans.
A rare political comment
In an interview with The New York Times, Parton said: "Hillary might make as good a president as anybody ever has. I think no matter if it's Hillary or Donald Trump, we're gonna be plagued with PMS either way -- presidential mood swings. But I personally think a woman would do a great job. I think Hillary's very qualified. So if she gets it, I'll certainly be behind her."
After being accused of endorsing Clinton, she released a statement joking with fans: "I might as well run myself … they could always use more boobs in the race."
Why she avoided politics
Explaining why she steered clear of political topics, the Jolene hitmaker told Fox News: "I've got as many Republican fans as Democrats and I don't want to make any of them mad at me, so I don't play politics."
She also turned down the Presidential Medal of Freedom on three occasions involving two different presidents, Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
The Times journalist Hadley Freeman, who interviewed Parton three times, said she only saw the singer's stern side once, when she asked about Trump. Freeman wrote: "The only time I experienced her steeliness for myself was when she mentioned in 2019 that 'in every man I see someone in my family'. I — unfairly — asked if she could see her brothers in Trump. 'I ain’t talking about Trump!' she replied sharply."
Freeman added: "Parton understood, even as others forgot, that we don’t need our celebrities to be political, to reveal their biases and preferences and their hot takes on every single news event."
Tributes and Trump's claim
Trump was among those to pay tribute following Parton's death. He ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff in her honour and wrote on Truth Social: "This is a true loss for millions of people. There has never been anyone like her, and never will. In her honour, I am lowering the American flag throughout the United States for a one week period beginning tonight at 6:00PM."
In an interview with Glenn Beck a day after her death was announced, Trump claimed that Parton "really liked" him. "I knew her a little bit, she wasn’t a very political person," he said. "She really liked me, I will tell you," he went on, stating that she never expressed this publicly because she didn’t want to upset some of her fanbase. "She was of the opinion, the 50%, who needs to lose?" he added. "I don’t think it’s 50, I think it’s probably 20 per cent of the fans, OK, not 50. But she was a great person, just a nice person. I liked her a lot."
Former US President Joe Biden also paid tribute, stating: "Simply put, Dolly Parton was an American original. She was an inspiration to millions." He added that the music legend was "a relentless advocate" for women and for equality and praised her charity work providing books to children around the world. "She lived her values with a flair and vitality for life that was uniquely her own," Biden added, describing her as "a trailblazer in every sense of the word".
