Dolly Parton's Oscar Performance in 1981 Was One for the Ages

At this year’s Oscars, the show broke tradition and the nominees for best original song did not perform live. Instead, the 97th annual Academy Awards showcased performances by Wicked stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, plus Doja Cat, Lisa of Blackpink, Queen Latifah, and Raye. While this made for an entertaining evening, we’re going to take the opportunity throw it back to one of the best Oscars performances of all time, and we have Dolly Parton to thank (of course!). It’s hard to believe that Dolly has never won an Oscar, but the 79-year-old icon, pictured below, has been nominated twice for best original song: in 1981 for “9 to 5” and again in 2006 for “Travelin’ Thru” from Transamerica.

Both times, Dolly took the stage to perform her hit live. In the 53rd annual ceremony, “9 to 5” was nominated for best original song along with “Fame” and “Out Here on My Own” from the movie Fame, Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again” from Honeysuckle Rose, and “People Alone” from The Competition. “Fame” ended up winning the category. Dolly brought the house down with her performance in 1981. After being introduced by Johnny Carson, she took the stage wearing a black gown covered in sequins and was surrounded by male backup dancers as she belted out her song. 9 to 5 was Dolly’s first acting role, and the title song, which she wrote on set, ended up being her first number 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. While the song didn’t earn the Oscar, it did win Dolly two Grammys: for Best Country Performance, Female, and Best Country Song. Watch her performance here:

Dolly Parton’s Husband, Carl Dean, Has Died at Age 82

Dolly Patron’s ultra-private husband Carl Dean, pictured above, who died March 3 at the age of 82, was last photographed in public over five years before his passing, marking his first public outing in four decades. Dean, who mostly stayed out of the spotlight, never stopped loving their fast-food dinners together with Dolly. “We love to just get out in that little camper of ours and drive through restaurants,” she said in 2022. “I love to get a good burger and French fries on the highway like everybody else, and we go get hot doughnuts now and then. It depends on what we’re in the mood for. Whether it’s tacos or burgers or whatever, we can go get it!” Parton said she and Dean were big fans of Taco Bell, where she’d always get the same thing: Taco Supreme, Mexican Pizza, Rice and beans and Mild sauce.

The couple was married for nearly 60 years. Dolly’s official Instagram account shared this message, “Carl Dean, husband of Dolly Parton, passed away March 3rd in Nashville at the age of 82. He will be laid to rest in a private ceremony with immediate family attending. He was survived by his siblings Sandra and Donnie.” The message continues, “Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.” The post concludes, “The family has asked for privacy during this difficult time.” The couple met on the day that Parton moved to Nashville when she was just 18 years old—bumping into one another outside of the Wishy Washy Laundromat. In a recent interview, she said, “He’s a good guy. He’s quiet, and I’m loud, and we’re funny. Oh, he’s hilarious.

Dean was famous, in part, for his desire to stay out of the spotlight. Despite being married to one of the biggest stars in the world, he was not a part of his wife’s celebrity world. Parton told People in a 2016 interview that her husband was a “loner.” “He’s not in show business. He’s not resentful of any of that. He loves to hear about the things I do,” Parton said. “I love to hear about the things he does. So we enjoy each other’s company. We get along good. He’s got a great sense of humor. We’ve just been best buddies and best friends and, evidently, it’s working!” Dolly met Dean in Nashville in 1964, when she was visiting her uncle and his wife who had just moved there. Parton later recalled in a 1976 New York Times article that she was headed to the Laundromat as she had traveled so quickly her clothes were dirty when Dean spotted her, “hollered” at her and she said hello. “Bein’ from the country, I spoke to everybody,” Parton said. “And he came over and, well, it was Carl, my husband.”

Parton said she initially refused to go out with Dean and instead invited him to come sit on the porch with her at her aunt and uncle’s house. “He came up every day that week and we set out on the porch. I wouldn’t even take him in the house,” she said. “Then my aunt got a day off… and that was my first chance to go anywhere with Carl and he drove me straight to his folks’ house and introduced me to his mother and daddy. Cause he said he knew right the minute he saw me that that’s the one he wanted.” The pair married in 1966 and renewed their vows in honor of their 50th anniversary in 2016.

That year he gave a rare interview to “Entertainment Tonight.” “My first thought was ‘I’m gonna marry that girl,’” Dean said of that first meeting with Parton. “My second thought was, ‘Lord she’s good lookin.’” And that was the day my life began. I wouldn’t trade the last 50 years for nothing on this earth.” Parton also celebrated her husband being the yin to her yang, telling Us Weekly in 2022, “We’re the perfect partners.” “We both have great sense of humor,” she said. “We’re able to, like, solve any problems and any situation, making a joke about it and not letting it get too heavy, but we respect each other and we like each other. We lucked up, let’s put it that way.”

But he was so private. “That has led a lot of people to believe that my husband doesn’t exist and that I made him up,” Parton wrote in her 2020 memoir, “Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics,” “The couple never had children, something Parton, who was one of 12 children, told Billboard she did not regret. “I used to think I should regret it. Early on, when my husband and I were dating, and then when we got married, we just assumed we would have kids. We weren’t doing anything to stop it,” she said. “In fact, we thought maybe we would. We even had names if we did, but it didn’t turn out that way. Now I say, ‘God didn’t mean for me to have kids so everybody’s kids could be mine.’” “I’m very close to my family — five of my younger brothers and sisters lived with me and Carl for many years — and we’re very close to our nieces and nephews,” she added. “Now that Carl and I are older, we often say, ‘Aren’t you glad we didn’t have kids? Now we don’t have kids to worry about.’” And I think one of the things that have made it last so long through the years is that we love each other, we respect each other, but we have a lot of fun. Anytime things get too much tension going on, either one of us find a joke about it.”

Dolly Parton’s Husband, Carl Dean, Inspired the song ‘Jolene’

Dolly wrote the hit 1973 song after a bank teller caught the eye of Dean. She attributed its success to its simplicity and the universal emotions it evokes. In 2008, Parton said that the song “Jolene” came to life after a bank teller developed a “terrible crush” on Dean. “She got this terrible crush on my husband, and he just loved going to the bank because she paid him so much attention. “It was kind of like a running joke between us when I was saying, ‘Hell, you’re spending a lot of time at the bank. I don’t believe we’ve got that kind of money.’ So it’s really an innocent song all around, but sounds like a dreadful one,” she explained.

Sabrina Carpenter Hits An Unlikely Chart With Help From Legend Dolly Parton

It took many years for Sabrina Carpenter’s music career to take off in a major way. Just days after winning Best Pop Vocal Album at the Grammys—widely considered one of the most competitive fields—the singer-songwriter scored her first hit on a Billboard chart that proves that her reach now extends beyond just that one style.

Carpenter debuts on the Hot Country Songs chart this week, scoring her first career win. “Please Please Please,” which is now available to play as a duet featuring Dolly Parton, opens at No. 17 on Billboard’s list of the most-consumed country-only tracks throughout the U.S. “Please Please Please” earns the top debut on the Hot Country Songs chart this week. It’s the second-highest rising track that wasn’t present anywhere on the tally last frame. View the video below: