JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As fans across the country mourn the loss of music legend Dolly Parton, one Jacksonville musician is remembering a week he says he’ll never forget — when Parton showed up at his show at Disneyland and ended up on stage with him.
Parton, known for hits including “Jolene” and “9 to 5,” died on Tuesday. She was 80.
Laurence “Blinky” Walden, a jazz vocalist and artist who has lived in Jacksonville since the ‘90s, told News4JAX he performed for years at Disneyland’s Golden Horseshoe Revue in Frontierland. In his hands is a photo of him and Parton on that very same stage performing together.
“When I look at this… and it has her signature on it that she gave to me… I just think about all the good times,” Walden said.
Photo of Dolly Parton and Laurence Walden on stage in Disneyland (News4JAX)
Walden’s path to the Disneyland stage started long before California. He said he grew up in Chicago and joined the Air Force after graduating high school in 1964. Walden said he worked as a technical illustrator while serving and also sang with the Air Force Jazz Band. After leaving the service, he eventually made his way to Southern California, where he said he got a tip about an audition at Disneyland.
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Walden went for it — and got the part.
He recalled the pace of the job as nonstop: six shows a day, six days a week. Over time, he estimates he performed more than 4,000 times.
Then, during one week at the park, he said Disney hired Parton to perform. After her own show, Walden said Parton came to watch his.
In the opening act of the Golden Horseshoe Review, Walden said he was supposed to bring someone from the audience onstage.
“When I had to pick somebody out of the audience, I picked her,” Walden said. “She came on stage… we sang… and then afterwards she came backstage and said ‘you know I’m going to come back here for the rest of the week.’”
Walden said Parton did return — and the moments backstage became just as memorable as the ones on stage. He said she was warm, engaged and eager to share what she knew.
“She said, ‘I’m going to teach you how to yodel,’ and she taught me how to yodel,” Walden said.
Walden said the bigger lesson was Parton’s approach to performance. He recalled her advice that a singer should be able to sing a song so well that you can “hear” the music even without instruments.
Laurence “Blinky” Walden in his Jacksonville home (News4JAX)
Walden said that guidance stayed with him — and the news of her death stunned him.
“I hadn’t kept up with her and didn’t know that she had been ill… and it just came as a shock,” Walden said. “What a loss.”
Now, Walden said that signed photo represents more than a celebrity encounter. He said it reflects how Parton carried herself — and how she treated people she met along the way.
“She was such a nice… down-to-earth person,” Walden said.
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