My Dolly Dreams Are Gone 

Thank You Dolly Parton for your singing, songwriting, acting, writing, philanthropy, love & care for every person you met.

It is still surreal to me that one of my top Entertainment Idols is gone!

It feels like I lost a member of my immediate family. I truly feel my life has been permanently changed with the passing of Dolly Parton.

Dolly was someone I looked up to & admired.

From wanting to work in the entertainment industry to being kind to everyone I meet to making sure I was dressed to the 9's when on stage, I feel like I have modeled my life after Dolly.

While I was extremely fortunate to have met Dolly in 2002 at her CD signing for her 3rd Blue Grass album Halos & Horns, my dream of interviewing Dolly is now gone & I struggle with what more could I have done to make that interview happen.

I even wrote about my hopes of sitting down with the Country Music Icon in the Acknowledgement section of my debut book.

But I'm sure Dolly wouldn't want me wallowing in "If Only." She would probably quote a line from her song "Better Get To Livin'" or tell me some other Dolly-ism to help me move forward & to relish in the good memories I have of her!

The truth of the matter is I had a lot of fun chasing this dream. I was honored to co-host a Dolly Parton Letter Writing Party & have members of my community write to Dolly on my behalf as to why I should be the one to interview her.

I enjoyed preparing the questions I was going to ask Dolly, the things I wanted to tell her, in however much time I would have been given with her.

The process of trying to get an interview with Dolly helped build my confidence in pitching myself to one of my ultimate Entertainment Idols.

It showed me various ways to phrase my requests from the fan interviewer to the more direct ask.

While none of these tactics scored me my #1 dream interview, I know it wasn't because I am a bad interviewer, but because of timing.

I definitely had the roster of pasts guests (Olivia Newton-John, Rosie O'Donnell, Blanche from The Golden Girls, etc) to warrant an interview with someone of Dolly's status, but by the time I started to request my interviews with Dolly, life started to change for her.

Dolly's husband of almost 60 years, Carl Dean was ill, then he passed away & then Dolly started having her own health struggles.

So when my interview requests started coming in, Dolly probably wasn't able to accept as many interviews as she used to.

I am sure Dolly would want me to be proud of myself for even trying to get an interview with her!

Sadly, my interview won't happen while I'm on this physical planet, but I have no doubt Dolly & I will meet again "In The Sweet By & By!"

And when we do reconnect, these are the questions I would ask her:

General Music Questions:

• You have introduced me to so many artists because of your collaborations throughout your career. For example, Kathie Lee Gifford (Only My Pillow Knows), Miley Cyrus (Wrecking Ball), Culture Club (You’re Kiss Are Charity). How do you decide who you say YES to for a collaboration?

• There are so many songs you have released throughout your career that have helped me get through difficult times. For example: “Just The Way I Am,” “Better Get to Livin’,” “Light of a Clear Blue Morning,” etc. What songs helped you get through your challenging times?

• What was something you learned about the music business that you wish you knew when you first started your career?

• How would you decompress after a recording session or performance?

• You told this story a few times where in order for Elvis Presley to record "I Will Always Love You," he wanted to having the publishing rights, but you didn't want to give them up. Was there ever been a song you wanted to record & own the publishing rights to, but that artist didn't sell you their song?

• Was there a song or album you had to fight the record company to get released?

• The music industry has changed so much throughout your career. What was the hardest change to adapt to? What new aspect of the industry did you just love?

*Image above is courtesy of Sarah B Roberts
Me - Adam Rothenberg waiting outside David Letterman's stage door when Dolly Parton was a guest on The Late Show on November 21, 2006.