(Credits: Far Out / Butterfly Records / Big Machine)
Wed 10 September 2025 5:00, UK
Having friends in show business is tricky, and nobody knows that better than Dolly Parton.
Parton has had a fair few prickly relationships over the years. One of the most obvious was with Linda Ronstadt, when their clashing approaches in the studio made for some considerably colourful reflections.
But Parton has been subjected to difficulty her entire career. If it wasn’t because of how she looked, it’s because people thought she was a sell-out. And if it wasn’t that, it was because people didn’t believe in her ability to venture elsewhere. And this goes beyond fans, too, with even some of her closest circle implying they weren’t entirely convinced about things she wanted to do.
Like when she created Rockstar and wanted to cover Led Zeppelin, but her husband warned her against it, saying, “I don’t know if you need to mess with that, because I think you’ll get a lot of criticism.” But the main takeaway isn’t that people said she couldn’t do these things, it’s that she did them anyway, even when her decisions – as innocent as they sometimes were – backfired.
Which is how she found herself in the crossfire of a fight with Porter Wagoner. Parton was good friends with Emmylou Harris, and once wrote ‘To Daddy’ and gifted it to her for release in 1978. This simple act of kindness between friends didn’t go over well with Wagoner, resulting in a fight that Parton said was probably their worst. Harris had wanted the song when she heard Parton play it in the studio, but Wagoner, knowing it would be a hit, wasn’t convinced.
Writing in her book, Parton said Wagoner reacted furiously to her giving the song to Harris, and he said, “What the hell do you think you’re doing? You can’t give her that song.” To which Parton responded, “Yes, I can, because it’s my song, and because I’m trying to build myself up as a songwriter.”
Parton had wanted to support Harris and help build her career, giving the song away while knowing she could have also gotten a number one with it. But, at the time, that was neither here nor there for her. She’d already gotten to a point, whereas Harris was still climbing the ladder. Still, the act made Wagoner seethe because he was so proud of their work that he wanted it to only ever be theirs.
It probably also felt so explosive at the time because everybody knew what one wrong career move could do. And Parton was still reaching, even if she’d already earned a higher level of success. But all that became water under the bridge as the years went by, when nothing ever came of it that actually damaged her career.
If anything, it also proved the kind of character she is, helping her friends in an industry that wasn’t exactly built for women to thrive. That, plus the fact that the song was incredibly personal, written by Parton as a reflection on the estranged relationship between her mother and father growing up. If anything, she wouldn’t have taken it lightly, giving it away, and yet she benched her pride to help out a friend.
Related Topics