MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
There are so many aspects of Dolly Parton's life to celebrate and mourn today - her talents as a singer, songwriter and musician, her philanthropy, her career as a businesswoman, theme-park owner. She died yesterday in Nashville at the age of 80. According to a statement from a representative, she had recently been diagnosed with cancer. She drew on her own life for some of her most popular songs, like "Jolene," which was inspired by a bank teller who seemed to have a crush on her husband.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JOLENE")
DOLLY PARTON: (Singing) Jolene, Jolene. Jolene, Jolene, I'm begging of you, please don't take my man.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Many of her songs grew out of her life. The singer Porter Wagoner helped Dolly Parton get her start as a young singer on his hit TV show. And she later wrote the song "I Will Always Love You" about deciding to move on from that partnership.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU")
PARTON: (Singing) And I will always love you. I will always love you.
INSKEEP: Dolly Parton spoke with NPR News many times over the years about her life. And here she is on MORNING EDITION in 2002 discussing her earliest days.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
PARTON: Back then, a lot of people were poor, and you didn't think about it. We just - we made it. We barely made it, but we did make it. And, you know, we had a lot of stuff that money can't buy anyhow, as I often talk about, like - things like love and kindness and understanding. And we had music. My mother's people were very musical. So that really got us through a lot of hard times.
MARTIN: At her high school graduation in 1964, her classmates all started talking about their plans for the future - medical school, getting married.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
PARTON: And I just said, well, I'm going to Nashville to become a star. And people laughed. It just froze me 'cause I was so embarrassed. I thought, well, you know, what's funny about that? You know, and it was like - I just remember that hurt me so bad.
INSKEEP: I guess they must have been embarrassed later because she did go to Nashville. Parton says she got lucky and eventually got a songwriting contract and then started recording her own music.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DUMB BLONDE")
PARTON: (Singing) Feel sorry for you. Just because I'm blonde, don't think I'm dumb 'cause this dumb blonde ain't nobody's fool.
INSKEEP: She got the attention, and she expressed herself. And as we learn of her death, President Trump has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff this week. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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