We all knew America's glue wasn't doing well.
We prayed for Dolly Parton when Carl Dean, her husband of nearly 60 years, died in March 2025 and in October when her unspecified "health challenges" led to the postponement of her Las Vegasconcerts, and Freida Parton asked for prayers for her sister,
Still, news Aug. 25 that the icon had died shocked the hell out of many of us. "Oh no," I screamed when I read the news. A few minutes later, my brother called me to make sure I had heard.
"Aww, I loved Dolly Parton," he said as if a family member had passed.
Dolly was Dolly: big hair, chest, heart, rhinestones, personality, smile − a short skirt and a wink. More than a singer -songwriter, actress, entrepreneur or philanthropist, Dolly was our America - our auntie,
sister, bestie, cousin, girlfriend and wife.
Seeing her in concert a decade ago at theOhio State Fair is a memory I will never forget. She commanded the stage and delivered love born in a small one-room cabin.
Cheeky and kind, Dolly had the world's top Q Score, a measurement of a celebrity brand's appeal.
Dolly was one of only 25 celebs to have had an E-score of 100in the E-poll Market Research database.
The saint behind "9 to 5," "I Will Always Love You," "Jolene" and 25 number-one hit songs on the Billboard Hot Country chart was something we could all - well, most of us - agree on. Raised in poverty, she represented the good America had to offer through Dolly Parton's Imagination Library and other philanthropic work.
She was our common ground and seemed to see and laugh with us all: Black, White, Brown, poor, rich somewhere in the middle, straight and LGBTQIA.
I mentioned the attempt to "cancel" Dolly in 2024 in the piece I wrote last year about her sickness. Folks mounted up like the regulators Warren G. and Nate Dogg made famous when conservative Ericka Andersen tried to drag Dolly because she didn't judge LGBTQ+ people or anyone else.
Andersen, author of the Federalist piece "There's nothing loving about Dolly Parton's false gospel," found out how hard Americans of nearly every category were willing to ride at dawn for Dolly, as shown by the outcry that followed publication.
“I regret using Dolly as the example for the point I was making in the article,” Andersen told Yahoo Entertainment. “As I wrote in the piece, I love her and think she does some incredible things for the world. We all make poor choices in how to frame things sometimes. This was one of those moments for me! Dolly is one of the few people who is beloved by all and who loves all. The world is lucky to have her.”
Dolly, who performed in an NFL halftime show in her late 70s wearing a cropped top and short shorts and later made a rock album that topped six Billboard charts, defended free expression and creativity.
Her defense of Beyoncé's right to make "Cowboy Carter" despite the racist backlash is just one example.
"I'm a big fan of Beyoncé and very excited that she's done a country album," Dolly wrote on social media. "So congratulations on your Billboard Hot Country number one single."
Dolly Parton was not perfect, but neither is the nation that produced and loved her. Her life with its challenges and triumphs, was an example of how we can all be better, how our humanity exists despite the nonsense and the political warfare.
Our glue is gone, but the lessons she gave us will linger just like the melody of one of her great songs.
And I will always love Dolly Parton for that.
Amelia Robinson is the Columbus Dispatch opinion and community engagement editor.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Dolly Parton was America's glue. Are we lost without her? | Opinion
