Celeb Kids
Dolly Parton Explains How Her Parents Inspired Her Work Ethic and Helped Her Become Who She Is Today — Watch!
She is one of the most successful singers and businesswomen today, but Dolly Parton knows the two people she can thank for her fantastic work ethic: her parents.
The 73-year-old recently sat down with Today and Jenna Bush Hager after inviting them for a tour of her theme park, Dollywood, which just finished a $37 million expansion. The singer was asked where her incredible “business-sense and entrepreneurial style” comes from, and Dolly had no problem at all mentioning her folks — her dad, Robert, and her mom, Avie.
“I get a lot of my business sense from my daddy,” the 9 to 5 actress revealed. “My daddy wasn’t able to read or write, but he was the smartest man I’ve ever known. He knew how to barter, he knew how to bargain. He knew how to make a deal. He knew how to count that money. He knew how to raise a family of 12, keeping a roof over our heads.”
Robert died in 2000 at the age of 79. As for Dolly’s sense of flair and flash, she attributed that to her mother, who passed away just three years after her husband at the age of 80.
“My mom is where I get my spiritual self and the creative part because my mom’s people were all musical,” the Grammy award winner explained. This isn’t the first time that the hitmaker has opened up about her work ethic either.
“Well I still don’t know that I’m a star. I say I’m a work horse that looks like a show horse because I don’t think of it in terms like that,” Dolly told musician and producer Linda Perry on February 4, at the opening night of her exhibit at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. “I always wanted to just be really successful. I wanted to travel, wanted to wear pretty clothes. I wanted to have nice things, but I wanted people to hear my songs and have people hear me singing,” she added. It turned out that way!
It is so great to hear just how important Dolly’s parents were to her, and how they continue to positively impact her.
