{"id":416947,"date":"2026-08-26T05:50:06","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T05:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/416947\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T05:50:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T05:50:06","slug":"austinites-remember-dolly-partons-music-friendship-and-lasting-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/416947\/","title":{"rendered":"Austinites remember Dolly Parton\u2019s music, friendship and lasting impact"},"content":{"rendered":"

From a longtime country radio host to fellow musician, Austinites are remembering their personal connections to Dolly Parton and the impact she left on their lives. <\/p>\n

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Dolly Parton touched generations of fans around the world, but for several Austinites, the country music legend\u2019s death Tuesday<\/a> brought back deeply personal memories of her music, friendship and generosity.<\/p>\n

Parton had long-standing ties to Austin, from performances in the city to film projects shot in Central Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n


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For those who played her music, worked alongside her or found inspiration in her career, she was more than a familiar face and voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody always says angel, and I really don’t know a better word,\u201d longtime Austin country radio host Bob Cole said.<\/p>\n

Cole spent decades playing Parton\u2019s music and following her career.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said the news of her death came as a shock.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was quite a shock, even at 80,\u201d Cole said. \u201cThis was a real shock.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ray Benson, leader of the band Asleep at the Wheel<\/a>, also shared a decadeslong connection with Parton.<\/p>\n

Benson and Parton shared both a friendship and the stage over the years. They also worked together on the 1991 television movie \u201cWild Texas Wind.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Across Austin\u2019s performing arts community, Parton\u2019s influence reached well beyond country music.<\/p>\n

Austin drag performer Brigitte Bandit said her first official booking was for a Dolly Parton-themed show.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Years later, that connection came full circle.<\/p>\n

A photo of Bandit testifying at the Texas Capitol while holding a children\u2019s book about Parton eventually made its way to the country music star.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe showed Dolly the photo of me with her book at the Capitol,\u201d Bandit said. \u201cAnd so Dolly signed this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bandit now has a rhinestone-covered guitar signed by Parton and sent to her as a gift.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m very honored to have this recognition now,\u201d Bandit said.<\/p>\n

The memories Cole, Benson and Bandit carry of Parton are different. But as these Austinites reflected on Parton\u2019s death Tuesday, they shared a similar feeling of gratitude for what she left behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cDolly Parton truly left this world a better place,\u201d Cole said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From a longtime country radio host to fellow musician, Austinites are remembering their personal connections to Dolly Parton…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416948,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-416947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}