‘My little girl dreams come true’ for icon Dolly Parton as new exhibition celebrates her life

Some little girls dream of being a fairy, others dream of becoming an astronaut but one little girl from the Smokey Mountains dreamed of becoming a global entertainment superstar and a new exhibition will now highlight how she got there.

Dolly Parton: Journey of a Seeker is a new exhibition from Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is more than a career retrospective as it highlights some of the many obstacles Parton faced as she worked her way to global stardom.

Hundreds of invited guests turned up to see the 79 year old living legend host a preview of the show and see the many artifacts tell the story of her triumphs and setbacks.

“I think it’s wonderful that I have been able to see my little girl dreams come true,” she told guests during the exhibition’s opening reception and noted it was “a long ways from the top of the Smoky Mountains to the top of the world.”

However, Parton said that her journey didn’t come without any sacrifice but told the audience she was still “so grateful” for her life and was “thankful for every person that’s ever helped me.”

The Coat of Many Colours singer also faced obstacles from other people who advised her against many of the decisions that would lead to greater success.

Associate Director of Editorial for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Michael McCall explained that Parton had to fight “each step of the way” for something.

“She had to go against someone telling her, ‘No, don’t do that,’ and she just wouldn’t take no for an answer,” McCall said.

“Whether it was somebody telling her to tone down how she dressed or not to ‘go pop,’ or not to start Dollywood because she’d lose her fortune on it, and on and on.

“She continuously overcame people telling her not to do something.”

Even after Parton achieved stardom, she still faced naysayers who advised her against ending her professional partnership with Porter Wagoner (which inspired her to write I Will Always Love You as penance for leaving their successful TV variety show), embracing pop music, transitioning into acting and establishing

Many also tried to convince the then aspiring singer to ditch her trademark fashion sense, most notably from influential producer Chet Akins who told her people would not take her seriously unless she “toned down” her look.

Instead, a stunning array of Parton’s costumes take a prominent place in the exhibition and many are displayed on custom-made mannequins which display her buxom figure.

These include the cowgirl outfit she wore in the fantasy sequence in 1980 hit 9 to 5, the sherbet-orange polyester sheath dress she wore on the cover of her debut album and the turquoise fringed suede skirt and lamé top that she wore when she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999.

The exhibition is, no doubt, a welcome distraction for Parton who has been navigating the loss of her beloved husband, Carl Dean who passed away earlier this year.

In a recent interview Parton admitted she “still gets emotional” when people bring him up as the pair were together for 60 years.

Parton said it was love at first sight for the pair who dated for two years before tying the knot, and while the couple enjoyed a happy union, Parton and Dean rarely appeared together in public.