{"id":330301,"date":"2026-08-26T17:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T17:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/330301\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T17:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T17:10:09","slug":"dolly-partons-surprising-history-in-new-york-city-from-studio-54-to-5th-avenue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/330301\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolly Parton’s Surprising History in New York City, From Studio 54 to 5th Avenue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dolly Parton\u2019s first visit to New York City was a nightmare. Early in her career, when she was still best known in country music circles, she decided to escape to the city with her best friend, Judy Ogle. \u201cI looked cheaper than I even do now, and Judy didn\u2019t look any better,\u201d she once told Conan O\u2019Brien<\/a>. \u201cSo we checked into this hotel, and they thought we were hookers.\u201d (The hotel ended up locking them out of their rooms.) Later, while walking along 42nd Street trying to figure out how to get home, a man made the same assumption and tried to make a move. Dolly ended up pulling a gun on him. \u201cIt was a different time, I had a gun in my purse,\u201d she recalled. \u201cMy friend Judy started laughing, because she thought it was the funniest thing she\u2019d ever seen.\u201d <\/p>\n

Luckily, the girl from the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee didn\u2019t hold a grudge against city folk, and returned to NYC often. In the 1980s, she even owned an apartment<\/a> on 5th Avenue in Manhattan. Throughout that decade, she could be found popping up at nightclubs and hobnobbing with socialites, art stars, club kids, and jocks, all while retaining her signature Dolly glam. <\/p>\n

Although Dolly was a country girl through and through, it\u2019s not hard to see why the city was so fond of her. Parton and denizens of the Big Apple share a few things in common: a celebration of others\u2019 differences, a non-stop work ethic, and the belief that you can be whoever you want to be, with the help of the right fashion. <\/p>\n

Allan Tannenbaum\/Archive Photos\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Here, Parton holds court with Andy Warhol at a 1977 dinner at Windows on the World (the restaurant that once sat atop the World Trade Center). The night was to celebrate Parton\u2019s performance in the city, but it wasn\u2019t the first time the pair met. In her 2023 memoir Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones, Parton said she often joined Warhol on the couch at Studio 54 to partake in their joint interest of people-watching. \u201cAndy and I would mostly just sit on the couch and watch all these crazy people out there doing their thing. We really got to know each other, just sitting on that couch.” Warhol, of course, also chose Parton as a subject for one of his famous silkscreen paintings. <\/p>\n

Allan Tannenbaum\/Archive Photos\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

That same night, she\u2019d meet Saturday Night Live and Blues Brothers star Jim Belushi. <\/p>\n

Ron Galella\/Ron Galella Collection\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Parton was no stranger to Studio 54. The legendary club even held the after party for one of her concerts in 1978. It was one of the few times the club brought in a live white horse. <\/p>\n

Ron Galella, Ltd.\/Ron Galella Collection\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Later, she took to the dance floor with the club\u2019s co-owner, Steve Rubell. <\/p>\n

Vinnie Zuffante\/Archive Photos\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Back in 1985, Parton signed a new record deal with CBS, and met Grace Jones at an event to celebrate in Harlem. <\/p>\n

Fairchild Archive\/Fairchild Archive\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

In 1985, Parton was the main entertainment at a charity ball held to benefit the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. She held her own with the city\u2019s swankiest black-tie crowd.<\/p>\n

Ron Galella\/Ron Galella Collection\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

In 1980, paparazzi caught Parton and best friend Ogle heading into Nirvana, a swanky lounge that once operated in Times Square. <\/p>\n

Michael Ochs Archives\/Michael Ochs Archives\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

In 1987, Parton was spotted leaving Ms Magazine’s Women of the Year ceremony at the Roseland Ballroom. <\/p>\n

Ron Galella\/Ron Galella Collection\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

In 1984, the unlikely pair of Parton and Sylvester Stallone co-starred in the NYC-set rom-com Rhinestone. Parton plays a country girl forced to perform at a sleazy Manhattan country bar. Through a rather unlikely series of events, she ends up falling in love with a taxi driver played by Stallone. Here, the pair celebrates at the film\u2019s premiere party. <\/p>\n

Bettmann\/Bettmann\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Currently, New York City is caught up in Knicks mania, but back in 1987, the city was infatuated with the Super Bowl-winning Giants. Parton helped celebrate by posing with members of the team at a restaurant. <\/p>\n

Ron Galella\/Ron Galella Collection\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Parton at the New York City premiere of 9 to 5 with co-stars Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda. <\/p>\n

Fairchild Archive\/Fairchild Archive\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Parton poses with Neil Diamond, Barbra Streisand, Norio Ohga, and Billy Joel at an event at Lincoln Center in 1993. <\/p>\n

Fairchild Archive\/Fairchild Archive\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Later that night, she\u2019d be seated next to Tony Bennett. <\/p>\n

Ron Galella, Ltd.\/Ron Galella Collection\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

She accepted adoration from Cyndi Lauper at the grand opening of the Sony Music Recording Arts Complex in 1993. <\/p>\n

Fairchild Archive\/Fairchild Archive\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

One of Parton\u2019s rare appearances during fashion week came when she sat front row at a Calvin Klein show in 1994, alongside Diane von Furstenberg and Fran Lebowitz. Although Lebowitz may seem like the cultural anthesis to Parton (a New York City cynic to Parton\u2019s country angel), Lebowitz adored her. <\/p>\n

\u201cWho doesn\u2019t love Dolly Parton? I personally am certain that she is the most popular person in the country,\u201d the writer once quipped. \u201cPeople who hate each other love Dolly Parton. I have never heard anyone say they didn\u2019t, and they don\u2019t even like her, they love her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ron Galella, Ltd.\/Ron Galella Collection\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

After the show, Parton posed with the designer himself. <\/p>\n

Ron Galella, Ltd.\/Ron Galella Collection\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Parton meets Manhattan tycoon Barry Diller at a Ziegfeld Theater party for Shining Through in 1993. <\/p>\n

Arnaldo Magnani\/Hulton Archive\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

In 2000, Parton was spotted checking out of a Midtown hotel, doing her version of the city\u2019s (almost) all-black uniform. <\/p>\n

Joe Kohen\/WireImage\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Twenty-nine years after the film, Parton reunited with her 9 to 5 co-stars for the premiere of the Broadway adaptation. Parton wrote the music and lyrics for the play. <\/p>\n

John Lamparski\/Getty Images Entertainment\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

In 2019, she walked the red carpet with New York disco legend Nile Rodgers at the We Are Family Foundation honors. <\/p>\n

LEONARDO MUNOZ\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

On the night of her death, New York City\u2019s Empire State Building lit up in bright pink to honor her legacy. Parton\u2019s mark on the city isn\u2019t over yet. Next year, her musical DOLLY: A True Original Musical will premiere on Broadway. <\/p>\n