Rest in peace…Our prayers are with Dolly Parton and her family…
On Friday, November 15, the singer’s sister, Stella Parton, posted on X (formerly Twitter) to announce their brother’s passing.
The 75-year-old added, “My brother David passed away peacefully this morning.” “He received his angel wings and is now at peace, but saying goodbye to a loved one is never easy.”
“It’s never easy to lose a loved one,” Stella continued in a second Facebook post, adding that her brother passed away “in the early hours of the morning.” “My brother David left us this morning,” she posted on Threads. After a while, he was granted angel wings. Rest in peace, amazing soul. “I will always love you.”
According to an internet obituary, David, also known as David W. Parton, “passed away at his home” in White Pine, Tennessee, on Friday, November 15. The cause of death was not revealed.
Why Dolly Parton Thought Her First Big Pop Hit Would Alienate Her Fans
We know that Dolly Parton is one of the most successful artists in country music history. But Parton also managed to succeed where other country legends faltered when she made the move to the pop charts.
Parton didn’t make the transition by degrees. Her first pop Top 40 hit was a smash, although she needed a little help to make it happen. And she also ensured that her country audience would come along for the ride.
Queen of Country
The numbers on Dolly Parton’s chart dominance in the country music world are quite staggering. It started with “Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel No. 8)”, a No. 3 country hit in 1970. Later that year, “Joshua” topped the charts, but that was only the beginning.
From 1970 through 1977, Parton delivered 17 Top 40 country hits. That included 11 that went to the Top 10. And then there was an incredible stretch of four straight No. 1s in 1973 and 1974. Included in that streak were the all-time classics “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You”.
That was an era where country crossovers to the pop charts were extremely rare. If an artist didn’t pitch a song specifically to pop radio, programmers weren’t likely to go looking for it in the country world. Heading into 1977, Parton’s best pop placement was “Jolene” at No. 60.
Crossing over genre lines in the world of music has always been a perilous journey to make. An artist who does so runs the risk of leaving behind the audience that cultivated them in the first place. Dolly Parton was extremely cognizant of that fact. But she remained desirous of going more mainstream with her music.
Parton had built her country career on her songwriting ability. But when she decided to make her foray into the pop world, she relied on a pair of experts in the field to deliver the material. You can go on all day listing the amazing hits co-written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. The Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” stands as perhaps the most momentous example.
But Mann and Weil didn’t write the song that would break Parton on the pop charts specifically for her. They wrote it first as a comeback vehicle for Brenda Lee. Lee turned it down, but B.J. Thomas recorded it. That’s how it was brought to Parton’s attention. The song in question was “Here You Come Again”.
The Pop Breakthrough
“Here You Come Again” is an expertly crafted song, one that establishes its premise and then suavely builds on it. The idea is that the narrator attempts to stand on her own, apart from her ex, only to have her defenses crumble every time he reenters her life.
Dolly Parton’s interpretation is on point, as she captures this character’s combination of exasperation and desire just right. Worried about how the song might be perceived by her country audience, she enlisted Al Perkins to play a steel guitar solo so that it would keep a foot in that world.
Mission accomplished. The song gave Parton another country chart-topper. But it also hit No. 3 on the pop charts in 1977. Parton didn’t just sneak into the pop world with “Here You Come Again”. She stormed the gates.