was the one I was definitely going to
make sure she was okay, no matter
what. I would have not been able to take
her had they not found the owner,
because she was not in great health.
They thought it would have traumatised
her. So I guess God knows what he’s
doing. Everything is back in order and
I’m thankful that everyone played their
part and I was not going to drop the ball
nor the dog... (laughs)
We heard that you shipped your
buses from Australia to Europe for
this tour, what prompted you to do
that?
Well, because I love living on the bus.
We’ve been on tour so many times
through the years, I found that I just
love living on the bus as opposed to
going in and out of hotels. I can always
keep all of my things on the bus so we
have two buses running all the time on
these tours. If we have to fly from point
A to point B we have one of the buses,
which are almost identical; that are
stocked almost the same way, so it just
gives me a feeling of being home all the
time. I can scatter my stuff and I don’t
have to carry all that luggage in and out
of hotels. I’m just a gypsy this is my
caravan (Laughs).
I actually love
anything that
glitters and
shines. I love
a lot of colour
and close
fitting clothes.
I always say I
buy my
clothes two
sizes too small
and then I
have them
taken in...
Is there a significant difference
be tween overseas’ audiences and
American audiences? Perhaps in
the way they react or respond to
certain songs?
Yeah, I think the main difference is in
America they’re great, I mean I love all
my audiences and they’re all wonderful.
But in America they know they’re going
to get to see you because you’re there all
the time. The main difference is when
we’re overseas, you don’t get to come
that often and they really, really go out
of their way to let you know how much
they love you, how happy they are to see
you and if they don’t see you again they
remember that they appreciated you
being there. So there’s an excitement
that you can’t hardly describe. It's really
just the time and the space I suppose. ‘I
don’t know when I’ll see you again so
let’s just make the absolute most of it’
and that’s how I respond to them. I try
to give them everything I possibly can,
incase I don’t get chance to come back
for years and years or ever... But they’re
a wonderful audience and we just love
them all. Don’t take nothing from my
American audience though... Them also!
How would you, Dolly Parton, get
over a heartbreak?
Laughs... The way everybody else does.
You have to let time heal all wounds. I’m
one of those people - I wound easy, but I
heal fast. I always thought that a broken
heart is like a broken bone. I wrote
about that in a song. It’s like a broken
heart is like a broken wing, it must have
its time to mend. It's like any other
injury. Usually a terrible, terrible heart
ache takes about a year to really heal,
but some of us can heal a little faster.
You just gotta look at it like an injury
and just try to think positive, try to live
above it, try to live beyond it. But you
gotta wallow in that sorrow while it lasts
- You can’t out run it, you got to roll with
the sorrow too.
How have you sustained an
abundant positive energy for
almost five decades of your
career?
I have a good attitude. I love my work. I
think it’s important that people be busy,
stay busy, try to be creative and I don’t
think the years matter so much if you
really make yourself busy. Of course you
see yourself getting older, you notice
little things as the years go by, but that
doesn’t mean that you should stop. You
just need to take care of those things as
they come along. But keep a good
attitude above everything else. I just
keep myself creative and busy. I have
good doctors - good makeup - and a
good attitude and whatever it takes to
keep myself looking better and better.
That’s what I’m gonna try and do from
now on...
You just performed Jolene at the
Glastonbury Festival, 40 years
after its release in 1974. How does
it make you feel that this song is
still so recognised?
Well, Jolene, a lot of people don’t realise
is the song that is recorded more than
any other song, by other artists
throughout the world. I still enjoy
singing it. It makes me feel great. I think
it’s just so easy to sing. It’s got that
bouncy little feeling. I think a lot of
people relate to it. So I’m very proud of
Jolene. I’m glad that people are still
liking it.
Any future plans for touring after
this summer? Working on any new
music?
I’m gonna take off for a little while, I’m
doing my life story as a musical. I’m also
doing my life story as a movie, which
also has a lot of music in it. I may
possibly do some television, and some
producing so I’ve got a lot of business
stuff in mind, but I do not plan to do any
more touring in the near future. We’ve
done this world tour and we’re winding
that up pretty soon, I’m sure as years go
by we’ll be doing other things, but for
now I’m gonna concentrate more on the
business end of things and the creative
stuff like the musical, the movies and
the TV.
You talk about the movie business
and you had a part in From
Hollywood To Dollywood, but
we’ve not seen you in a movie
since Joyful Noise, is acting
AUG / SEPT 2014 | THEGAYUK 37