In a replica of the Smoky Mountains cabin where the late country music legend Dolly Parton was raised, her mother, Avie Lee, tells the story behind “Coat of Many Colors,” the title track of Parton’s 1971 solo album that helped establish her signature songwriting style. In a gentle Appalachian drawl, Avie Lee describes how the large family that grew to 12 children couldn’t afford a new coat for Parton, so she sewed one from colorful rags. Avie Lee told her daughter the biblical story of Joseph and his coat of many colors given to him by his father as a sign of deep affection. Young Parton felt special, but at school, the children made fun of her. Even so, she wore the coat for years.
It was a life lesson she never forgot: True riches are not measured by material possessions but by family bonds and self-worth.
A reproduction of the coat hangs on the cabin wall. The site is where visitors to Dolly’s Life of Many Colors Museum begin a rags-to-rhinestones journey through the singer’s life, from birth to global fame. Thanks to state-of-the-art technology, Parton herself guides fans through interactive exhibits connected to personal stories that influenced her songwriting. The 20,000-square-foot attraction is on the third floor of the SongTeller Hotel in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee; both opened on Sept. 29, exactly five weeks after Parton’s death at age 80.
I was among the first to check out the 12-story monolith with 240 themed rooms and suites. Fun details like wallpaper printed with concert ticket stubs and guitar-shaped throw pillows add to its charm. The hotel at Third Avenue and Commerce Street is so much more than a place to sleep between honky-tonks. With two live music venues (Parton’s Live and Jolene’s), you could stay entertained without ever leaving the property. But, of course, you will because Parton left her mark all over Music City.
Country music isn’t usually my genre of choice, but Parton is an exception. Growing up in Kentucky in the 1980s, I saw Parton all around me — on the radio, the TV, and the silver screen. She had crossed over to pop by then, and her down-to-earth songs sung in her bright soprano were the soundtrack to my youth.
As a travel journalist, I had the chance to interview the country music icon more than a decade ago at Dollywood, the eponymous resort and theme park she founded 40 years ago in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains to celebrate Appalachian culture and music. I was there to learn about the new rides, but at some point, the conversation turned to weight management, and for a minute, we were just two curvy gals sharing our struggle. That’s how easy she was to talk to. She had a way of making you see past the carefully curated glamour and connect to her as a person, not a celebrity.
To honor her memory, I recently embarked on a Dolly Parton odyssey from Nashville to her hometown of Sevierville, Tennessee, starting at Dolly’s Life of Many Colors Museum in the state’s capital city. It includes a re-creation of the laundromat where in 1964 Parton met her husband, Carl Dean, the man who would be by her side for 60 years until his death in 2025. Parton was known for her blinged-to-the-max style, but her knee-length wedding dress is surprisingly simple.
Around the corner is an office much like the one Bill Owens, Parton’s uncle and early manager, worked from in the ’60s. Episodes of “The Porter Wagoner Show” that launched Parton’s career play on a vintage TV. Wagoner sparkles like a rhinestone cowboy in his bespoke suit as his “girl singer” with the big beehive hairdo croons “Dumb Blonde,” her breakthrough country hit in the mid-1960s. (Parton was anything but dumb: Her sharp business acumen helped her build an entertainment empire allegedly worth around $450 million at the time of her death.)
Artifacts include an outfit Parton wore as Doralee Rhodes in 1980’s “9 to 5,” her debut film, and handwritten lyrics to her 1973 chart-topping hit “Jolene.” I was most captivated by the collection of pastel bell-bottom jumpsuits designed by Lucy Adams in the 1970s. In an era when many country music stars glittered in over-the-top “Nudie suits” designed by Nudie Cohn, Parton found her own style with “Lucy suits.” Imagination Library, Parton’s philanthropic program that has delivered free books to children since 1995, is represented through an interactive exhibit where she reads to guests. Don’t miss a virtual performance of “I Will Always Love You,” the blockbuster song that was Parton’s top-selling hit. She wrote the poignant ballad in the mid-1970s as a farewell to Wagoner when she left his show to launch her solo career. I got a little choked up as she hit that last high note and the curtain came down.
I discovered something shocking about that song during a tour of RCA Studio B, a recording studio that now operates as a museum on Music Row, just outside Downtown Nashville: Parton turned down Elvis Presley. Initially, the Queen of Country was thrilled that the King of Rock ’n’ Roll wanted to record her 1974 chart-topper, but there was a catch: She had to relinquish half the publishing rights. It broke her heart, but she declined. It proved to be an astute business decision. When singer Whitney Houston’s version skyrocketed to the top of the charts in 1992, Parton said, “I made enough money to buy Graceland.”
After a day of music and museums, I hit Interstate 40 for the 200-mile drive east to Sevierville, which travelers from the Tri-State pass through to get to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I checked into Dolly’s Loft, a two-bedroom Airbnb with a massive mural of her likeness over the sofa. Everything from the kitchen appliances to the furniture is pink, Parton’s signature color.
The next morning, after a cup of ambition from the pink coffee maker, I walked across the street to see the bronze Dolly Parton statue in front of the Sevier County Courthouse. It was surrounded by flowers and other tributes left by fans. On the way to breakfast, I strolled past murals in shop windows honoring the town’s famous native daughter.
It’s impossible to overstate how loved Parton is here. Over a plate of chicken and waffles at Buffalo Breakfast Co., I chatted with restaurant manager Heather Castillo. Parton stamped a place in her heart more than 20 years ago when she agreed to meet Castillo’s grandfather at Dollywood — his dying wish. “She welcomed him into one of the restaurants and took time to talk to him and my grandmother and answer questions. The love she had not just for Sevier County, but for all her fans, was unbelievable,” Castillo recalls. It was often said Parton’s heart was as big as her hair.
My pilgrimage concluded at Dollywood. Parton famously didn’t ride the rides she promoted, joking that she would lose her wig and her heels, but thrill-seekers can’t get enough of the NightFlight Expedition that opened in August. The $50 million indoor attraction is a hybrid roller coaster and dark ride that creates the illusion of soaring over the Smokies at night.
After sundown, I enjoyed the glow of Great Pumpkin LumiNights, part of the annual Harvest Festival that runs through Halloween. An illuminated butterfly may seem incongruous among the blazing jack-o’-lanterns, but the delicate creature has been part of Parton’s branding since the release of her album and single “Love Is Like A Butterfly” in 1974.
Like a butterfly, Parton was beautiful and gentle, but her savvy instincts ensured she would survive and take flight.
When You Go
The “In Dolly’s Footsteps” walking tour was launched in October in Sevierville. The free, self-guided experience links nine Downtown locations to Dolly Parton’s early life.
