Dolly Parton’s secret for surviving decades of celebrity

It’s a shame Dolly Parton has never gone into politics. She’s someone who’s lived her life very much in the public eye and yet has never lost sight of who she is, of her claim to fame as a country singer. You can tell by the way she sings, even now after more than 50 years in the business, that it’s straight from the heart, nothing synthesised, nothing stage-managed. Her voice just ripples out, tripping lightly through those lyrics of broken hearts, feckless men, without ever sounding bored, trite, as if she didn’t really care. When Paul Sexton went to Nashville to talk to her for Radio 2, she not only gave him a list of her all-time favourite records (Otis Redding’s ‘I’ve been loving you too long’ was at the top of her list, proving her impeccable taste); she also explained how she has survived her decades of celebrity by keeping her sense of self unscathed.