Music Producers From The United States

"We [at Dollywood] don’t try to shove anything down anybody’s throat. We are very open. So many of my businesspeople and my best friends are different faiths, and I work with them, live with them, love them. The gays and lesbians, they come to our parks. I think people just know I’m a very open and accepting person. And in any religion we’re supposed to be that—we’re supposed to be kind...we’re not supposed to pass judgment. Our Bible says, ‘Judge not, lest ye be judged,’ and I believe in all those kinds of things. We’re all God’s children. No matter how we try to get to heaven, we all wanna go there. We just have our own routes to take, and that’s how I look at it."

"It takes a lot of money to look this cheap."

"Do not confuse dreams with wishes. There is a difference. Dreams are where you visualize yourself being successful at what's important to you to accomplish. Now, dreams build convictions because you work hard to pay the price to make sure that they come true. Wishes are hoping good things will happen to you, but there's no fire in your gut that causes you to put everything forth to overcome all the obstacles. So you have to dream more and never, ever, ever blame somebody else if it doesn't happen. That is in your department."

"I think that if I am smart in business, it’s just that I’m smart about who I am. I know what I can, can’t, will and won’t do, and if I have to be strict about that, I will."

"I look so totally artificial, but I’ve always been the simplest person in the world."

"Even when I’m writing a modern song, I’ll find myself pulling stuff from those days before I ever left home, the days of Mama and Daddy and my grandmas and grandpas, and church days. All I ever have to do is close my eyes and just kind of go inside."

"The way I dress, for the most part, is how most people would dress for a costume party. It would scare most people to death to look this cheap or whore-y, but to me, I’m comfortable. The way I look was really a country girl’s idea of what glamour was. I patterned my look after the town tramp. I thought she was the prettiest thing in the world, with all that bleached hair and bright-red lipstick. People would say, ‘Oh, she’s just trash,’ and I’d think, ‘That’s what I want to be when I grow up.'"

"It's hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world"

"My nails are my rhythm section, when I'm writing a song all alone. Some day, I may cut an album, just me and my nails."

"I just depend on a lot of prayer and meditation. I believe that without God I am nobody, but that with God, I can do anything."

"A lot of people get all turned off by the wig, the heels, the fingernails, the whole artificial bit. I do dress kinda pretty but old-fashioned. I think maybe I dress this way partly because of the image, you know, and partly because when I was a little girl growing up in a big old poor family, this was the way that the rich folks' wives dressed, when we'd see them drivin' through in their big old cars. As for the 'real me.' Well, under this wig, my own hair is about the same length and color, and I wear it about the same. But sometimes I'll dress up in a baggy old shirt and go out with my husband in a camper or something, just havin' ourselves a good time, and nobody recognizes me."

"I can see the light of a clear blue morning I can see the light of a brand new day I can see the light of a clear blue morning And everything's gonna be all right It's gonna be okay."

"I've been looking for the sunshine 'Cause I ain't seen it in so long But everything's gonna work out just fine Everything's gonna be all right That's been all wrong.'"

"It's been a long dark night And I've been a waitin' for the morning It's been a long hard fight But I see a brand new day a dawning."

"If I should stay, I would only be in your way. So I'll go, but I know I'll think of you ev'ry step of the way.And I will always love you. I will always love you."

"I hope life treats you kind And I hope you have all you've dreamed of. And I wish to you, joy and happiness. But above all this, I wish you love."

"You can have your choice of men but I could never love again He's the only one for me Jolene I have to have this talk with you My happiness depends on you and whatever You decide to do Jolene..."

"Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene I'm begging of you please don't take my man Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene Please don't take him just because you can"

"Now Momma's done away with the old black kettle she used to cook in when I was just little And the door ain't sprung on her electric range That little old farm and home we had it ain't there no more and that's too bad Folks are doing away with the simple things..."

"They didn't understand it and I tried to make them see That one is only poor only if they choose to be Now I know we had no money but I was rich as I could be In my coat of many colors that Momma made for me Made just for me..."

"She seemed astonishingly unaffected. It was a bizarre contrast. She looks like a totally artificial creation, with the amazing blond wig and the 6-inch skyscraper heels and the bosom that makes her, no doubt, the unchallenged record holder and defending champion at Frederick's of Hollywood. Then she walks up to you and says, "Hi! I'm Dolly Parton!" The introduction is as unnecessary as if, say, John Wayne had walked up and said, "Hi! I'm John Wayne!" What is the proper response? "Yes, of course you are”? Dolly Parton spent about half an hour shaking everybody's hand and leaving behind a wake of people telling each other, "Gee, she's really nice," as if, well, as if somehow she shouldn't have been. There is a way in which we behave in public, in situations with a lot of strangers that implies a level of polite, subtle hostility. We are reserved. We check out the room for traps and hazards. We are uncomfortable, confronted with a hundred unfamiliar faces. What Dolly did was to come in with her brash, unaffected personality and sweep away all that paranoia in a rush of good will. It left everybody standing around afterward feeling a little goofy."

"This will sound crazy, but when I was interviewing Dolly Parton, I almost felt like she had healing powers."

"it takes guts to be a woman under patriarchy. I mean, Dolly Parton is like an image of a super-femme, but she has this certain brassiness, she just has to have total guts to survive around men and to have her image be so female. She's the kind of person that a drag queen would emulate, because she is using that female, or femme facade, which is like Marlene Dietrich or Mae West or Dolly Parton or any of those gutsy women over the years who drag queens have chosen to emulate, especially the ones who do female impersonation. There's the other edge to them besides the femme facade that is totally gutsy and a real survivor of the world"

"There's a lot of difference between songwriting and poetry, and I think that's what gets lost. Most lyrics do not read well. They sing well...I'll tell you who writes well, though, as I'm sure you're aware, and that's Dolly, Dolly Parton."

"I met Dolly Parton in Tennessee; her titties were filled with Hennessy. That country music really drove me crazy, but I rode that ass and said, "Yes, Miss Daisy!""

"Dolly’s big in Iceland. Her voice is immaculate, really powerful. Her character is so warm and human, and she has a great sense of humor. All my friends love Dolly, and most of them are people who would never listen to country music. It doesn’t happen very often when you get a character that is sort of larger than life. I don’t like rock music, but I like Kurt Cobain. He could be playing any style of music and I would have been interested. You know? And I think Dolly is like that. She is an incredible singer, an incredible songwriter."

"In a 2024 interview with The Guardian, Dolly addressed speculation about her retirement, stating, "I can’t retire. I always say I’ve dreamed myself into a corner. I’ve got to keep all those dreams alive. Every dream spins off into something else.""

"In October 2025, Dolly reassured fans about her health, saying, "I don’t think God is through with me... I ain't done working." She humorously added, "I ain't ready to die yet.""

"Due to health challenges, Dolly postponed her December 2025 Las Vegas residency. She humorously referred to it as her "100,000-mile check-up," clarifying it wasn’t related to cosmetic surgery."

"Following the death of her husband in March 2025, Dolly released the song "If You Hadn't Been There," expressing gratitude for his unwavering support throughout their nearly 60-year marriage"

"In January 2025, Dolly shared, "I think I'm a star to everybody but me... I always wanted to be famous, but nobody could have thought of the extent it became."

"My joke [is that] if I have any regrets, it’s that I got caught with some of the stuff that I had no regret about."

"I’m almost 78 years old. When you get older, you see everything, you’ve been through everything, and you can take a new spin on something that might have been right for you 10, 15 years ago."

"This is amazing to me how people look to me, that’s a big responsibility. There ain’t nobody that good. I’m not all that. I make a joke – I’m not even all there. I try to just be a decent human being, try to use love as my great tool and weapon. I try to leave my heart, my eyes, my ears open, and my mouth closed, when I know it’s not the right thing to be doing."

"Even within my own family, especially the last few years since Trump and Biden, all that, it’s like we can’t even go to a family dinner any more. Especially if people are drinking – they get in a damn fight at the table."

"I think words and titles just have such connotations, When I think about a ‘feminist’, you think about women that are anti-men, and you think of women that have been so mistreated, they have to make some sort of a statement. I’m all about women, I’m all about empowering women, but I’m all about empowering all people – love and respect and uplifting [them]."

"I’ve always been true to myself,” she says. “That was what my mama always used to say: to thine own self be true. I put a lot of stock in that. Everything I do, whether it’s my personality, how I conduct myself and business, or whatever, if I do it my way, according to what I understand and believe, there’s a strength in that. You can think, ‘I can stand by this, I can live by this."

"I’ve been at this so long, I’ve worn some of the most bizarre things – my hairdos have always been so out there, At the time you think you look good, then you look back on it, like, what was I thinking?"

"I’ve been grateful for every good thing ever happened, God has always blessed me, surrounded me with good people. I pray that every day God will bring all the right things, all the right people, into my life."

"I think the one that’s most personal to me is the lil’ 'Coat of Many Colors,' because it talks about my mom, my parents, and kind of gives you an insight. It also covers bullying, acceptance and all that."

"And if I was the President, (was the President) And if'n the Congress called my name (was the President) I'd say "Now who do, Who do you think you're fooling?""

"When I was a little boy, (when I was just a boy) And the devil would call my name (when I was just a boy) I'd say "Now who do, Who do you think you're fooling?""

"Some people never say those words "I love you". It's not their style to be so bold. Some people never say those words "I love you". But like a child, they're longing to be told."

"Come on, take me to the Mardi Gras, Where the people sing and play, Where the music is elite and there's dancing in the street, Both night and day."

"Kodachrome, They give us those nice bright colours, Give us the greens of summers, Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, Oh, yeah, I got a Nikon camera, I love to take a photograph, So Mama, don't take my Kodachrome away."

"When I look back on all the crap I learned in high school, It's a wonder I can think at all, And though my lack of education hasn't hurt me none, I can read the writing on the wall."

"Peace like a river ran through the city Long past the midnight curfew We sat starry-eyed We were satisfied... You can beat us with wires You can beat us with chains You can run out your rules But you know you can't outrun the history train"

"A young girl in a parkin' lot was preaching to a crowd Singing sacred songs and reading from the Bible Well, I told her I was lost and she told all about the Pentecost And I seen that girl as the road to my survival... Even now that sweet memory lingers"

"I'm on my way, I don't know where I'm goin', I'm on my way, I'm takin' my time, but I don't know where. Goodbye to Rosie, the Queen of Corona See you, me and Julio down by the schoolyard."

"When the papa found out, he began to shout, and he started the investigation It's against the law, it was against the law What the mama saw, it was against the law."