Dolly Parton Remembered in Santa Barbara for ‘Her Legacy of Service, Dedication, and Joy’

Dolly Parton, a country music icon with big hair and an even bigger heart, died in Nashville on August 25. During her 80 years of life, she touched many lives, including those in Santa Barbara County. 

She was a world-class singer and songwriter — and then some. In 2016, Parton made a stop at the Santa Barbara Bowl during her Pure & Simple tour and showed off her spunk and skill. Independent reviewer Ella DeMaria called out her “seemingly indestructible showmanship” that defied age (her rhinestone-studded costumes, voluminous hair, and voluptuous figure certainly helped).

She was inducted into both the Country and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame after making an unmatchable mark on the country music scene between the 1960s and ’90s. She remains the best-selling female country artist of all time. 

“At age 70, she is still one of the most moving and powerfully voiced singers this reviewer has ever heard,” DeMaria wrote about her 2016 performance. 

But even beyond her showmanship, Parton had soul. In a 2002 interview with The New York Times, she famously reminded her fans that her persona was largely an act, saying that beneath the hair, there was a brain, and “beneath the boobs, there’s a heart.” 

That heart bled into her empathetic lyrics and the way she moved through the world. Never forgetting her roots as a child from an impoverished family in rural Tennessee, the beloved musician donated much of her time and money to philanthropic causes, including childhood literacy.

“If you can read, you can do anything, dream anything, and be anything,” Parton once said. 

One of Parton’s literacy programs, the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, sends free books to kids once a month until they turn 5, with no strings attached. Through United Way and First 5 Santa Barbara County, young learners can access this program locally. Books are delivered straight to their little hands. 

“The Dolly Parton Imagination Library is a legacy gift to children and has, and will continue to, make books accessible to any child regardless of their circumstances,” said First 5 Deputy Director Michelle Robertson.

Robertson continued: “Language and literacy and the direct correlation to a child’s thriving life lays the foundation for not only early academic success but builds a child’s self-confidence in school. We cannot be more appreciative of [Parton’s] philanthropic work in this area and are so grateful to have the program in our community. Her generosity and innovation will be admired, and she will be truly missed.”

The United Way of Santa Barbara County said in a statement that Parton “has been a part of nearly 4,500+ families’ stories here in Santa Barbara since our first day of partnership with the Library.”  

“Her legacy of service, dedication, and joy will forever be remembered, and we are honored to continue her work to build brighter futures for the next generation,” it said. 

Her legacy will likewise be remembered at UC Santa Barbara, where resident “Dollyologist” Helen Morales teaches Hellenic studies. Morales wrote the Dolly Bible, titled Pilgrimage to Dollywood, in 2014, offering a peek behind the glamorous Parton persona — a self-proclaimed “backwoods Barbie” — to reveal a woman with depth, intelligence, and compassion. 

“She’s a figure that emanates positivity and love and understanding for all,” Morales told UCSB newspaper The Current’s Jim Logan in 2020.

Parton had other ties to the Central Coast, including a quaint compound in Solvang, which went back on the market for a little under $2 million this June. During the decade that Parton owned the home, she made it her own, including her famous addition of a “Wig Room.” At the front of the main house is a plaque, proclaiming the dwelling as the “former home of Dolly Parton: singer, actress, and American icon,” and above the door is an adorable stained-glass window displaying her first name, “Dolly” and a butterfly, one of current owner Cris Lapp’s aesthetic odes to Parton.

Parton died after a brief battle with cancer, according to a statement from representatives on Tuesday. She had been admitted to the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville on Friday and died surrounded by loved ones, the representatives said. Her death was announced earlier on Tuesday via an Instagram video shared by her nephew. His video statement included many heartfelt sentiments, touching both on Parton’s family relationships and her relationship with the largely adoring public.

“My family and I have shared a lifetime of beautiful memories with Dolly, but so have you,” her nephew, Bryan Seaver, said in the video. “She has always been on your television, your record player, your CD and on your phone playlist, becoming an extended part of your family whether you liked it or not. Our family and the team she has entrusted with her legacy will work diligently to ensure her spirit will live with us forever. Dolly was a farmer, just like her daddy; he farmed the soil, she farmed songs and happiness.”