Dolly Parton Goes Solo

On This Day in History: February 19

Dolly Parton frequently extols the need to believe in yourself, and in 1974 she epitomized this when she walked away from a popular TV show to go it alone.

--On This Day in History Shit Went Down: February 19, 1974--

Porter Wagoner sounds like quite the country and western name, doesn’t it? Known as “Mr. Grand Ole Opry,” he was country and western royalty with a syndicated TV program called The Porter Wagoner Show that began in 1961 and ran for two decades. His female star was a popular singer named Norma Jean, but she left in 1967 and the then-unknown Parton replaced her. People were not happy.

The audience liked Norma Jean, and suddenly there was this new woman and they automatically didn’t like her because change is bad. Some would chant “Norma Jean!” from the audience, which is a shitty way to treat anyone, but especially Dolly, dammit. However, because she’s amazing, she won the crowd over and became beloved. She’d promised to be with the show for five years, and stayed for seven. It was during that time the world came to love Dolly Parton as she produced hit after hit, including several duets with Porter.

But the pair fought because “we were both stubborn,” Dolly said. Porter thought he knew what was best for Dolly, and Dolly said she knew what was best for Dolly. She wrote “I Will Always Love You” about her professional breakup with Porter, which was announced on February 19, 1974. The song hit #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. In 1982 she re-recorded it for a musical comedy she starred in alongside Burt Reynolds titled The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and it hit #1 a second time.

Dolly was right to believe in herself. Through hard work and talent her career reached all-new levels of superstardom, including a successful acting career. In addition to entertaining people for decades, Dolly is a generous philanthropist, especially in the area of literacy. In 2020 she donated a million dollars to help fund development of Moderna’s Covid vaccine.

NOTE: This piece was researched and written by a human, not some bullshit “ai” plagiarism software.

Those who cannot remember the past need a history teacher who says “fuck” a lot. Get both volumes of ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY SH!T WENT DOWN.