For Dolly Parton, family always reigns supreme. The 78-year-old country star is fixated on bringing people together, whether that be through food, common interests, or her latest endeavor, Dolly Wines. “Wine has always been that one thing that brings family and friends together to celebrate, whether you’re having a nice meal, or whether you’re just having snacks and fun,” Parton says.
To start, Parton is just releasing three varietals, with more on the horizon. The Chardonnay, with grapes from California, is available in the United States, and Prosecco and Rosé can be found in the United Kingdom. Parton plans to eventually have all her wines available around the world. “I can’t wait for all that to happen, where we have the full line of anything that anybody wants,” she says.
Dolly Wines is just one of Parton’s current projects. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer has an album on the horizon, Smoky Mountain DNA, and a Broadway musical inspired by her life in the works. She recently debuted a makeup line, and her most recent album, Rockstar, became the highest charting album in her career, reaching the number three slot on the Billboard 200. “I am so proud of that album, and I’m so glad it did so well,” Parton says.
Below, the “Jolene” singer (yes, we know you’re talking about it after this week’s episode of Agatha All Along) talks about her new wine venture, her upcoming projects, and the state of country music.
You really have so much going on with your new wines, Dollywood, and your upcoming album, Smoky Mountain DNA. Where do you find the drive to keep going?
I don’t know how to do anything else. I have a lot of creative energy. I dreamed of being a star, and I’ve seen all those dreams come true. I have dreamed myself into a corner, because once you have your dreams come true, you realize all of the things that those dreams coming true allow you to do. Why not bring any of the money that you can to your own family? I love being able to see dreams come true while I’m alive. Energy begets energy, and wine begets wine.
These wines are meant to embody your joyful essence, so I’m curious on what that means to you. How can we find Dolly in these wines?
You’ll find me in the joy of it. You’ll find me in the happiness of it. You’ll find me in the elements of it, in the notes, so to speak. But actually, you know as well as I do that music and spirits go together.
These wines are coming at the perfect time for the Thanksgiving table. What dish would you pair with your Chardonnay?
I just put all the wines out on the table, and then I put the food out. I’m one of those people that believes in the buffet style of serving food. I also do the buffet wine table. I think a lot of people like certain wines, and then they like certain foods. I don’t think it necessarily has to be like red wine has to go with beef and red meat. You can pair it up anywhere you want to.
You’re really known for your philanthropic efforts. I think of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, and you’ve been such a vocal, outspoken person for LGBTQ rights. You just donated to Hurricane Helene relief. Why is philanthropy so important to you?
It’s important to give back. I have been given so much in my life. God has been so good to me, and the fans have been so good to me. When you are in a position to help, and you can help, you should help. I love to be successful, but I also love to be a success at being a good human being. If I see a need, I feel like I need to fill it.
I’m from such a huge family, not just my own brothers and sisters, but all of my people have big families. I have some of everybody in my family, whether they be gay, whether they be drug addicts, whether they be alcoholics, whether they be transgender, whether they be this or whether they be that. They’re my people. I love them. How do you not love your own people?
I have never put myself in a place of judgment. It is my place to love people as they are, and let God deal with the rest of that. I just love to leave my heart open to people, and to just be there if I can be.
Smoky Mountain DNA is coming out in November. What can you tease about the album?
I come from a very musical family. This is not your typical Dolly Parton album. I’m singing with people on most of these. I only have maybe two [solo] songs. With all the new technology, I’ve been able to go back and be able to sing with [my family, both alive and passed], and follow our musical history back through the 1800s and where we came from. My first cousin, Richie, is a great musician, and he’s always been the family historian. He just had this great idea that we should cover the whole family, some of the new ones that do sing and do write that nobody’s ever heard of, and then go back and do the old ones, just to follow our musical history. It’s going to be a docu-series as well. It’s really something that I’ll be proud to have forever.
You’ve taken such an interest in musicals with 9 to 5 or Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and I know that interest is continuing with a musical based on your life. Why is theater so important to you, and where does this fascination come from?
I never was all that interested in it. I didn’t grow up with the stage. I used to go see some plays when I was with my manager who was from New York. Then, when I was asked to write the music when they decided to do 9 to 5 as a musical, I felt I could do that.
Now, I’m very excited about the fact that I am doing my life story as an original musical. I’ve written a lot of original stuff, but it will follow all the songs that people know in the background. That’s going to hopefully be coming out in either late 2025 or early 2026. I’m fascinated with it from that standpoint now, and I do love going to New York and seeing some of the plays. It’s just exciting to see that out there.
Rockstar was your highest charting album ever at 77 years old. What did that moment mean to you, this many years into your career?
I used to think I might someday do a rock album of some type. The years went by and I thought, “Well, I’ll never probably get around to that.” Then, when they put me in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I thought, I cannot be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame if I don’t have something to show for it.
As you know, there was a controversy. I never meant it to be that. I just didn’t think I had earned the right to be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Then they told me all the reasons, and it still didn’t make that much sense to me. My husband loves rock and roll, and I thought, “Well, I’m going to pick a lot of his favorite songs, and I’m just going to go ahead and do it.” I’ll just ask the people that sang on them back when if they’ll join me. And they did.
How do you view the current state of country music? What do you love about it, and what you maybe feel like needs to change?
I will always love country music. I love all the days of Hank Williams, and all the early, early days. George Jones, and of course Merle Haggard, all those wonderful, wonderful artists of that day. Everything has to change, and country music has changed a lot, but there’s going to always be those young people that latch on to Hank Williams and go back and do some of that.
Country music used to be thought of as an old hokey kind of music. I love the fact that now, it is one of the most loved musics in the whole wide world. I’m just proud to say that we’ve still got country music, we still love it, and they’re still calling it country music, even if it sounds more rock and pop. Country music’s going to always exist in one form or another. I’m going to see to it as long as I live.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Samuel is the Associate Editor at ELLE Magazine. Prior to this role, he was the Assistant to ELLE’s Editor-in-Chief, Nina Garcia. At ELLE, Samuel writes about music, fashion, arts, and culture, interviewing Normani, Lola Tung, Sara Bareilles, Kelli O’Hara, Nicholas Galitzine, Tate McRae, and more. Raised in Des Moines, Iowa, Samuel attended Northwestern University and currently resides in New York City.