Achilles.

I think she's talented and her music is fine but even within the narrow lane of "soulful AC pop by a Brit," her hits just do not have IT compared to her forebearers like Adele and Sam. The success kinda baffles me a bit. The material is cute but not gorgeous. She's on her way but isn't quite there yet.

Genuinely INSANE that she managed to do justice to SO. MANY. CLASSICS. from a genre she was not part of, and at such an age too. Ultimate proof that it's never too late to try something new, such a statement of her versatility and her gift for embodying other people's work. The whole 40 track deluxe is worth the 3 hours it takes to listen to it.

It does feel like it's being set up for Jay Z. There is a way to integrate Miley ("and a Jay Z song was on") but it'd be a waste of one of the biggest hits ever and a Miley tribute to Dolly for it to be a segment of a Jay Z show rather than her own moment. If he does headline, it wouldn't surprise me if he did a collab segment with Bey that ends with her doing I Will Always Love You.

Ought to be the first of about twenty.

I assume the 4 disc 99 song box set Dolly isn't allowed on the BB200? How about the double disc Essential Dolly Parton that's currently #2 on itunes?

My top 3 are probably Love is Like a Butterfly, Just Because I'm a Woman, and My Tennessee Mountain Home. Most of her albums clock in around the 30 minute mark so they're not super demanding.

He's a talented songwriter with a relatively unique POV among "big name" pop stars and a good eye for visuals; it's good that he knows his limitations and how to work within them to maximum advantage, but he has other qualities that make up for what he lacks in vocal strength.

Are yall ready to talk about thee greatest of the great yet? Revisited Rockstar earlier. Such an fun and iconic capstone to her career. Responding to her Rock N Roll Hall of Fame induction by recording a 40 track monster of a project to justify her inclusion. Who else could do it? Who else would? The fact that she recruited so many big names… effortlessly did justice to so many classics… slipped in a dozen of her own original compositions, several of which are genuinely very good. What a moment for her. Also revisited Burlap & Satin, probably the best of her pop crossover records. The streak of A Gamble Either Way, Appalachian Memories, I Really Don't Want to Know, Potential New Boyfriend, A Cowboy's Ways is so GOATed. Love that AGEW and ACW are outtakes from Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Also really fascinating how she basically recycled ACW into Try, which is one of my personal favorites and seemed to be one of Dolly's own favorites of her 21st century output; it was featured on Blue Smoke and prominently used in her Emmy winning holiday film Christmas on the Square.

Also. Jane Fonda is definitely not an answer. Conservatives and veterans still loathe her for "Hanoi Jane" despite her many apologies through the years. The fact that she has consistently been one of Hollywood's most outspoken liberals for like fifty years now does not help. She may be widely respected and beloved, but she is far too alienating to too many people to rank among the most beloved women overall.

People love to say the first part but it's actually more accurate to say that she was vocal about her liberal social positions but was so talented, sincere, philanthropic, and significant to "southern culture" that conservatives gave her a pass for it (they are straight up gaslighting themselves about her being "apolitical"). It definitely helps that your latter statement is true; there was never condemnation or alienation. It's also significant that she expressed her liberal positions without actually making it about supporting certain politicians or voting for particular things. Beyond that, she was a sort of neutral figure who could collaborate with MAGA singers like Kid Rock without alienating the left and maintain a career-long friendship with a "radical leftist" like Jane Fonda without alienating the right.

Right. She has more than 80 songs charting on iTunes right now, including more than a dozen songs from the 2020s. Selections from Rockstar, the song she released when her husband passed last year, the new recording of "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" she put out on her birthday earlier this year, plenty of collabs across country, pop, and gospel. The fact that the songs are charting tells us that already knew them. They were listening.

I was surprised to find out earlier that she hasn't had a solo entry on the Hot 100 since "Downtown" in 1984. Jolene (60) and I Will Always Love You (53) could both be coming for higher chart peaks that better reflect their legacies.

Among musicians I'd say it's probably Stevie Nicks?

It's obviously Julie Andrews.

Iconic actor, especially shined in comedic roles. Deserved Oscar nominations for Clue and Rocky Horror Picture Show. RIP king.

I feel like her words about Dolly reveal a lot about the sort of position she herself hopes to occupy as an artist and celebrity. I hope there's a collab in the vault somewhere. I always dreamed of Dolly covering Our Song.

I'm partial to Love is Like a Butterfly, My Tennessee Mountain Home, and Just Because I'm a Woman, but she truly hasn't got a bad album in the bunch.

Her solo debut was 1967, which predates the debut of Jackson 5 as well as his solo career.

It's at 953M, so it was pacing to hit 1B in early Feb. I imagine it gets there quite a bit faster now. Would've been cool if she'd lived to see it. 9 to 5 at 896.5M too. Is she gonna become the solo artist with the earliest career start to bag multiple 1B songs? She debuted before Elton, and any other act to debut in the 60s that I can think of is a group…

Dolly has original songs from the 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s, and 20s charting on iTunes right now. I counted 31 entries, including features. Most of which she cowrote, a number of which she wrote alone. Two of which—the two most iconic country songs of all time, mind you—she wrote by herself on the same day. Truly one of one.

They're ******* around and—knowing the establishment—they're probably gonna keep ******* around even after they find out. Best of luck to the party that wants to ignore its own base.

Ryan Beatty - Sweet Fortune Carly Simon - Comes in Waves Madonna - Confessions II

Do I hate myself enough to press play on When I Get Where I'm Going… not yet…

I completely forgot to mention this really amazing and fun gospel song she wrote from God's POV (which is such an audacious and iconic thing to do).

Very fun clip of Dolly appearing on Cher's comedy show way back in the day. I always fantasized about them working together to maximize their joint slay.