American Country Singers

"It wasn't meant to be. And I don't regret it. I never regretted it. I mean, it was a choice. So, you make your choices, you make your sacrifices, and I never looked back. I knew early on that I was gonna walk that road 'til God told me to stop. And I'm still walking it, and He ain't said nothing to me about quittin' yet!"

"Now, that's some lines from the song that you and I did together. I know usually, at a memorial, people talk about somebody. Well, I'm gonna talk to you. 'Cause there is that place on the other side, and I'm certainly gonna see you there, little brother. You left a lot of people here with a lot of precious, precious memories. Everybody loved you. But I doubt that many of 'em loved you more than I did. Anyhow, I just want you to know that we all love you, we all miss you and I bet you're having a big laugh over all of us being sad and sorrowful and I know that would be the last thing you would want us to be. So, anyway, you made us happy while you were here, and we're happy that you're at peace. And I just want you to know that I will always love you. Goodbye, my sweet Leslie. See you over there."

"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."

"That's my therapy; my little guitar's my friend, And when I'm in that zone – I call it my 'God zone' – I just love that time."

"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."

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

"I could never do that. I don't care. I always count my blessings, more than I count my money. I don't work for money, never did. It was the art, it was the job. I loved the work. And I've done well, and I'm thankful for it."

"Well, I guess I am. But I don't think of it like they do. I'm just, I'm a feminine girl. I'm a workin' girl. I think we all should be treated with respect. And if we do a good job, we should get paid for it. So, I'm all about that."

"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."

"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."

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

"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.'"

"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."

"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.'"

"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..."

"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."

"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..."

"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"

"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."

"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."

"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."

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

"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"

"I am not a part of that. To Louisville, I am f-ing Elvis Presley. So why would I pay anybody for anything?"

"I'll be back in an hour"

"Elvis was the ideal in 'Orpheus Descending', and we were optimistic up to a point that he might make his first appearance on the stage, and then we hoped he would appear in a film. That was a madly delirious episode, because time, for the most famous people, simply has no meaning. People and things arrive at the slightest expression of desire or interest, and they disappear just as quickly. All questions are answered; every need fulfilled. He was elaborately polite with me: I think he saw me as some elder Southern gentleman who might give his father a loan at the bank downtown, but we soon saw that the discipline of a stage performance was beyond him. It was--and it is--frightfully boring for most people to show up and replicate and expand within a refined role. Still, I met him. I was in the presence. Diamonds and lard. There's your title."

"He was so ahead of his time, and that's why he brought so many people together, with his music without it having it any racial barriers."

"Eminem is regarded as one of the most important artists in the history of the hip hop genre even though his albums haven't been as genre-defining as so many of his peers, and his music is only tangentially influential when compared to a Rakim, 2Pac, Jay-Z or Kanye. He's mostly important for providing white fans a credible entry point into the genre. And we're supposed to be okay with that. We're not supposed to view Eminem and Elvis Presley as comparable. We're supposed to see Em as authentic and Elvis as a vulture. But Elvis raved about Black artists from Jackie Wilson to Mahalia Jackson, topped the R&B charts (and country charts) regularly, made headlines for facing Black audiences in Memphis when festivals were still racially segregated, chummed around with Ike Turner and B.B. King, and James Brown called him his “brother.” You don't really see a divide between Elvis and Black audiences until the “shine my shoes” rumor starts circulating in 1957. But that quote was always just a rumor. I also found it interesting that Elvis was vilified for a bullshit quote while people like Eric Clapton got zero flak for a very real one. B.B. King talked about this repeatedly, but the lie is louder,"

"That there is a seat in the front in the concert of and Elvis Presley."

"I met Elvis Presley at the "Dick Clark Show" at Circus Circus in Las Vegas, a place where a great musical extravaganza with some of the greatest artists of the day would always appear. So, we were sitting in the audience and Jackie Wilson had just finished his set and then Dick Clark came out, but before he introduced the next act he wanted to announce someone special had arrived, "Ladies and Gentlemen" The lights went down and all of a sudden spotlights went to the back of the room. I looked around and it was Elvis, He was looking cool and wearing shades, snatched them off as if saying, "Hello Everybody!, then came walking down the aisle to his table and when he saw Louise, he stopped and said "Hi Louise. Hi Nikki" and they started talking. I stood up and he said "Hi." I said "Hi, I'm Pepe. It's nice to meet you." I shook his hand. He said something else to Louise, and then said "See you later" and went to his table. By the time I was in Las Vegas, I had already met tons of celebrities, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Patti LaBelle and the Bluebells, Dionne Warwick and Wayne Newton. I also met Ike and Tina Turner. I drank champagne with Adam Clayton Powell and I met Redd Foxx. But, when I saw Elvis, I said, now that man's a star. It was a different kind of thing.""

"I was in a large parking lot, on one side hosting a telethon I was involved in and the Monroe Civic Center, where Elvis was playing, on the other. He knew there was going to be a child in a wheelchair waiting for him, so he stopped on his way to his limo, totally tired, after the concert, but got oh his knees and placed a scarf around his neck. I felt like crying. Then he looked at me, I was 24, hugged me and told me a few stories one of them about how a co worker had encouraged him to record."

"The first line of the record is sung without accompaniment, punctuated at the end by two beats, two chords on the piano. Exquisite. And this pattern is repeated through the verse, a Capella singing, piano crash, more a Capella singing; and then Elvis sings the chorus backed only by the beautiful, lonesome sound of a walking electric bass. The risk —only a great voice can hang out there that naked — is impressive and the payoff is phenomenal. None of which would matter, I suppose, if it weren't that the voice that this perfect and daring bit of accompaniment supports is nothing short of awesome; spirit is walking throughout this recording, just put it on the phonograph, and the room fills with ozone. Darkness and gloom drip joyfully from every rafter. This "Heartbreak Hotel" voice is an instant old friend; it intimately and unforgettably announces the arrival of something big."

"One evening Elvis Presley came backstage to see my show at Caesars Palace. I was in my dressing room with a few friends and well-wishers when Elvis arrived with his entourage. It was the first time I'd met him, and we got on very well; he was very gracious and polite, We talked about music and a few other things. After a while Elvis asked me to come over to his hotel, where he had some music he wanted to play for me. It was about 2:30 in the morning when we got back to Elvis's hotel, but as he opened the door of his suite, a wall of noise hit us. There must have been a hundred people in there. Elvis ignored them and led me through to a quieter room and started playing some of his favorite music: gospel About four in the morning I got up to go, but Elvis said, "Wait, I want to give you something." He went into the bedroom and came back with six or eight Navaho Indian belts with silver and turquoise buckles. "Pick one," he said. "I want you to have one." So I chose one, thanked him, and then headed back to my hotel. I still have the Navaho belt he gave me. I felt about it the way I did about those things my kids sometimes give me: You keep and proudly display them not because of what they are but because of who has given them to you."

"Overnight, or over a bite, you might say, the hand that's been punching out copy for the unconcerned becomes celebrated as the hand that was bitten by Elvis Presley. As a newspaper woman gnawed by the nation's top hound dog singer, I've been advised variously to sue for assault, take a rabies shot, inquire whether he brushes after every meal, or offer my paw to the museum. Yep, folks have really showed concern."

"I was amazed by how sexy, totally alert he was and by his playfulness. And as he sang “In the Ghetto", I saw it as representing a white Southern boy’s feeling for black music, with all that that implied. He knew better than to try to be nineteen again, because he knew he had quite enough to offer at thirty-three."

"Those who would wall off cultures from “outsiders” are would-be wardens."

"I was 17, so I go to Hollywood for a few days, staying with , whose husband was then choreographer for Elvis in "King Creole". So I watched the shooting one day, then Elvis came over and started talking to me, invited me to dinner, at his hotel, the Beverly Wilshire. So after dinner we end up in his bedroom. And when he found out I was a virgin, he just picked up his guitar and sat on his bed and sang to me for about two hours. He was gorgeous in those days. I couldn't wait to tell all my girlfriends."

"He inspired me to become a performer, he is a legend. And what do I before I enter a stage? Everytime? Well, I take an Espresso and I pray to Elvis.""

"My dad's head went into a fantasy, this idea of everything being better in America. Of course for his generation, that was very true. Everyone was going to drive in movies and drinking milkshakes and having hamburgers in America. We weren't doing things like that in the UK. I think a lot of that got caught up in the lyrics – all the kids in America are having a better, more interesting, more dangerous time than we were here. When Elvis and rock'n'roll was imported over from America, it was to a generation of kids whose parents had dealt with the war, and rationing, and they'd all been brought up in pretty poor conditions. So it was a great thing for the kids to dream about again. They dared to have an identity, for starters. They dared to dream through these great records imported from America. That's where the great love affair started for my father – as soon as he heard Elvis Presley record."

"Elvis was the blueprnt, he and ice cream blew my mind"

"What drew me to him was that his music was subversive. When the Beatles came around, grown-ups saw them as four mop tops, and didn’t take it very seriously. But when he came on the scene, it was different, the adults really didn’t like his stage performances and dancing. I soon asked for a guitar and got one for Christmas. It wasn’t an expensive guitar. A few years later my mom, who was a single mother, got me a nicer guitar when she saw I was very serious about it. It was a Harmony."

"We were booked to fly home the next day, but that night after the last show we got a telephone call from Colonel Tom Parker saying that Elvis would like to meet us on a film set at 2pm the next day. When we arrived Col. Parker met us and told us that Elvis had just gone out for a ride. Just then we heard what at first sounded like thunder coming from down the beach a long way off. As the sound got louder, we could see about 13 motorbikes side-by-side coming towards us. Elvis was in the centre of the riders as they roared onto the film set. What an entrance! I was spellbound! All together we had about two hours with Elvis. I told him that when I saw the first clip of him in "Jailhouse Rock", that's what got me into rock ‘n’ roll. We also talked about our tour of America. What a guy. A real gent. It was wonderful. A brilliant day."

"It made me feel great to be with him. He fit in so easy. Driver, loader, gunner, and tank commander you had to learn all four positions. Seeing him operate a tank was normal. His parents, visited often and especially his mother was a great source of comfort to us young draftees, always telling us to take care of each other, like we were her children. When she passed away, he said he'd give everything he had to get her back, but he knew he couldn't do that. He showed me all the telegrams he got from celebrities, three books filled with them. Once in Germany we served in the 1st Battalion, 32nd Armor Regiment, 3rd Armored Division. Despite his fame, Elvis was always just one of the guys. In fact, he inspired the other men to be better, stronger soldiers. When things got tough you could be out at night, it's cold and raining and you're on guard duty, and he was out there, too. If he could do it, that made me feel like, OK, I can do this!" After serving two years, we both came home and I went to work for a flooring company, drove a dump truck and eventually became a building engineer for Memphis City Schools. With my wife we raised two daughters and they knew how proud I was to have serve alongside Elvis. One of my daughters laminated the famous photos of Elvis being inducted, with me right there behind him. I carry them everywhere, showing them even to strangers because I want everyone to know how good a person Elvis was. And I do smile when telling the story of the time I was drafted into the military with the most famous person on the planet. The years I spent with Elvis clearly had a lasting impact with me. He stuck with it, did his job as well as I did mine, and I appreciated that. It was great..."

"Around the world the only three words that need no translation to convey their meaning are ̊"Jesus, Coke and Elvis""

"When he joined the U. S. Army in March of 1958, the Navy, the Air Force and the Pentagon were left disappointed. All the armed services had put considerable effort into being his choice. The Navy had gone so far as proposing a special “Elvis Presley company,” which would be drawn from Presley's buddies, and others from Memphis. If that wasn't enough, Elvis would also be assigned quarters entirely for his own use. The Army, also eager to win his favor, suggested he might be flown globally from base to base in order to boost the morale of the troops. The Pentagon, for its part, floated the idea of Elvis immediately joining the Special Services, thus sidestepping the need for regular training. But regular training was precisely what Presley wanted. He joined the army, but turned down all offers of special treatment. Private Presley he was, and was paid $78 a month. His last day of active duty was March 5, 1960."