{"id":417804,"date":"2026-08-27T01:40:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T01:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/417804\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T01:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T01:40:08","slug":"austin-remembers-dolly-parton-with-colorful-tribute-memories-of-acl-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/417804\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin remembers Dolly Parton with colorful tribute, memories of ACL performance"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Dolly Parton\u2019s impact stretched far beyond country music, and Austinites are remembering the singer, songwriter, and philanthropist with tributes to the warmth, generosity, and music that made her beloved across generations.<\/p>\n

At Violet Crown City Church in North Austin, Pastor Jay Cooper transformed an oversized chair outside the church into a tribute to Parton.<\/p>\n

The chair has been painted and repainted nearly 130 times over the past seven years. After learning of Parton\u2019s death<\/a>, Cooper said he knew immediately what would come next: a colorful design inspired by \u201cCoat of Many Colors,\u201d along with the message, \u201cThis Coat\u2019s for Dolly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI just knew I wanted to get out here and pay tribute to Dolly Parton, who is truly one of the last universally beloved human beings there is,” said Cooper.<\/p>\n

Cooper said he grew up watching 9 to 5 and listening to Parton\u2019s music, but \u201cCoat of Many Colors\u201d holds a special place in his heart because of its message about poverty, wealth, and what truly makes someone rich.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoat of Many Colors, you know, I thought it was just so profound in the way it talked about poverty versus wealth and what is true richness,” said Cooper.<\/p>\n

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Dolly Parton also left a lasting mark on one of Austin\u2019s most iconic music stages. In 2000, she made her only appearance on the PBS show Austin City Limits.<\/p>\n

Executive Producer Terry Lickona said the performance remains one of the show\u2019s most memorable, but he said Parton\u2019s genuine character stood out just as much as her talent.<\/p>\n

\u201cDolly was Dolly, whether she was on stage, off stage, backstage, whether she was with her fans, with a working crew, her tour band,\u201d Lickona said. \u201cShe was just a truly honest, open person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parton\u2019s legacy extended well beyond her music. Through her Imagination Library, she supported children\u2019s literacy, and she also helped communities recover after disasters.<\/p>\n

\u201cDolly\u2019s sense of humanity was every bit as strong as her music,\u201d Lickona said.<\/p>\n

For Cooper, Parton\u2019s rare gift was making people feel valued exactly as they are.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe celebrated them just for who they are,\u201d Cooper said. \u201cThat kind of seems to me like what every human really desires most, to be seen and loved and celebrated.\u201d<\/p>\n

In one corner of North Austin, Cooper’s larger-than-life chair has become a larger-than-life thank you to Dolly Parton.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Dolly Parton\u2019s impact stretched far beyond country music, and Austinites are remembering the singer, songwriter,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":417805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-417804","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\/417804","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=417804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/417805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}