For all her service and devotion, Dolly Parton will get way more than just than a promotion. She’ll be getting her own day.
Such became the case Sunday when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill establishing Sept. 25 as Dolly Parton Day in the state of California. State senators John Laird (D-Santa Cruz), and Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), wrote the legislation, honoring the singing legend and philanthropist and her role in the 1980 movie classic, “9 to 5.”
Parton died Aug. 25. She was 80.
“We could all afford to live a little more like Dolly,” Newsom said in a statement. “Be kind, be humble and have some fun. Be a diamond in a rhinestone world. With this bill, we are not just establishing a day to celebrate Dolly Parton, we are creating an annual reminder to us, every year, to live the way she did — joyfully, graciously and with a whole heart.”
The first such observance will occur Friday.
Parton sold more than 100 million records over a six-decade career and recorded 25 No. 1 hits — the most for any female artist in music history. She became an iconic figure for her role in “9 to 5” in which she plays a secretary working for a sexist boss in the days when women still were relatively new to the workforce. It was her first big acting role.
She also was one of the world’s most renowned philanthropists and humnaitarians. Her Imagination Library has registered more than 3 million kids and gifted more than 330 million books. Her funding helped the development of a COVID-19 vaccine.
“Dolly brought joy to a lot of people,” Laird said in a statement. “Her legacy goes well beyond her music. Through the Imagination Library, she put books into the hands of millions of children and throughout her life, she led with kindness, acceptance and a belief that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.”
Laird said the observance of Parton on Sept. 25 will allow California “to celebrate Dolly and the remarkable legacy she shared with all of us.”