Early in the afternoon on Aug. 25, Ford Motor Co. executives were wrapping up a business meeting at Ford's new World Headquarters in Dearborn when CEO Jim Farley happened to glance at his cellphone and read the breaking news scrolling across it: An American icon had passed away.
The icon was country singing legend Dolly Parton and Farley was struck with surprise and sadness, said Ford spokesperson Lori Arpin, because he admired Parton.
Farley shared the news that Parton had passed away with the room and conversation came to a halt. The discussion quickly shifted from business to memories of Parton and her impact on so many lives, Arpin said.
"Jim was a great admirer of Dolly. He was so inspired by her life's work," Arpin said. "He has said that
Dolly was truly one of his heroes."
Parton, who beyond being a music legend, was known for her philanthropy, especially her work with children when she founded Dolly Parton's Imagination Library some 31 years ago. The organization has donated nearly 300 million books to kids from birth to age 5 since its founding.
Parton died at age 80 on Aug. 25, from a brief battle with cancer. Farley posted about her death on X the next day, Aug. 26.
"When the news of Dolly Parton’s passing came yesterday, our business meeting at Ford stopped for a few minutes as we all started exchanging memories," Farley wrote. "Every person (was) touched in some way by Dolly. It’s remarkable and inspiring that one girl from rural Tennessee could bring so much light, warmth, and wit to the world. We lost an American original."
Meanwhile, across town, General Motors has been playing a Dolly Parton playlist at various office locations in honor of the legendary singer, GM spokesman Kevin Kelly told the Detroit Free Press. GM leaders are aware of Parton's affection for Cadillac vehicles. The most famous one she owned was a 1997 Cadillac DeVille d’Elegance sedan that she drove for a decade before donating it to the Hollywood Star Cars Museum in Tennessee.
Ford's memories of Parton
In his social media post, Farley linked to an article published in Ford's "From the Road" blog called "Remembering Dolly Parton."
In the blog, Ford revisits an article in Ford Times, a monthly magazine once published by Ford Motor that ended in 1993. Ford Times did a 1987 feature story in which Dolly Parton talked about the inspiration for her Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
The 1987 article, “Bring It on Home, Dolly!” by writer Patricia A. Hope, described a 400-acre park built a few miles from Sevierville, the town in which Parton grew up. Dollywood, which opened in May 1986, sits on the site of the old Silver Dollar City and at the time of Ford Times' article it already employed 1,150 people and put on 10 shows a day that ranged from gospel to bluegrass. Its revenue to local merchants was closing in on $23 million, and the park had $12 million budgeted for expansion, Ford said.
Parton told Ford Times: “I’ve had this dream, a dream to be able to bring something back home, something good for the county in terms of jobs. I wanted to preserve the Smoky Mountain heritage so people could come here and see what we’re really all about ... rather than having some Hollywood bunch of people portray Tennessee and the mountain people the way they often do.”
In its blog, Ford wrote: "Nearly 40 years later, Dollywood draws millions of visitors a year, and the story hasn’t really changed: a place built less as a business than as a thank you to the county that raised her."
Parton's cars reflected Detroit's automakers
Parton was quite a car collector, with a special eye for Cadillac and Ford vehicles.
Her most notable personal car was her 1997 Cadillac DeVille d'Elegance, a gold sedan she drove daily for more than 10 years before donating it to the Hollywood Star Cars Museum in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, according to Hemmings.com.
After donating her Cadillac to the museum, Parton bought a more modern Cadillac Escalade Hybrid, according to an Aug. 18, 2025, article by AOL.com.
Parton also owned Ford vehicles: a Lincoln Nautilus and a classic older "big blue truck," a Ford pickup she had once bought for her father, AOL wrote. The article states, "It's not used for errands or red carpets, and it stays on family property in Tennessee. For Dolly, it's a reminder of her roots."
In fact, once her career took off, Parton said the first real gifts she gave her parents were cars. For her dad, it was the pickup truck, according to a Yahoo obituary on Parton. In a 2015 interview with Billboard, Yahoo writes, Parton said her father was so proud of the truck that he refused to trade it so after he died in 2000, she kept the vehicle on family land in Tennessee for nieces and nephews to enjoy rather than a keepsake behind glass.
Yahoo reported Parton bought her mother a Cadillac shortly after she bought her father that pickup. Parton kept upgrading her mother's Cadillac vehicles every few years afterward. Her mother's last Cadillac was gold and when her mother died in 2003, Parton reclaimed the car, nicknamed it the Dolly-Mama and she and her husband, Carl Dean, drove it. It never went to auction or a museum.
Another Detroit tribute to Parton
Meanwhile, as the Detroit Free Press reported, another legend, Detroit-native rapper Eminen, also posted a tribute to Parton and shared a personal note she had sent him years prior when he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
"I'm sorry we never got a chance to meet, but getting this note from Dolly really had a an impact on me," Eminem wrote in a X post. "She definitely didn't have to take the time to do it. Even for a kid who mostly listened to rap music, she was an icon. A superstar in every sense. Rest easy Dolly. And thank you for the kind words."
In her note to Eminem, Parton said that while she doesn’t “know a lot about rap music, I’ve come to know that you are the very best at it.” She went on to say she feels an “unexplained connection” to him and had hoped to meet one day.
She signed off encouraging him to keep doing what he's doing and know that "you are very special and touch people in ways you don't even know."
From the outpouring of tributes to her across the Motor City, she too touched many people in ways she would never know.
Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer for USA TODAY Co. who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How Ford and GM leaders reacted to the news of Dolly Parton's death
