America continues to be in mourning after the death of the legendary “Golden Girl” Betty White, who passed away on Saturday just seventeen days before her 100th birthday. Now, the country music legend Dolly Parton is speaking out to pay tribute to White.
“While watching the news last night I learned of Betty White’s passing,” Parton tweeted. “Betty will live forever not only in this world but the world here after. I will always love her as we all will!”
White had told The Boot back in 2010 that she was a fan of Parton’s, saying that her song “9 to 5” was one of her favorite country music songs.
“I like Dolly’s whole approach to life with ongoing and uplifting songs,” White said. “I never met Dolly but everything I ever heard about her she was a great gal to know and you could kind of get it in her music and her voice and her approach to lyrics.”
Related: Betty White Uttered This Powerful Last Word Says ‘Carol Burnett Show’ Star Vicki Lawrence
Check out Dolly Parton performing Betty White’s favorite song of hers below.
In this same interview, White also talked about why she loved country music so much.
“Country music tells stories, and it’s also basic,” the former “Mary Tyler Moore Show” star explained. “It’s the kind of music that reaches right inside of you because it’s simple and it’s direct. I just enjoy it thoroughly. It’s relaxing and nostalgic. It can turn on some lovely memories and sometimes some poignant ones.”
Another one of White’s favorite country music songs was “Sixteen Tons” by Tennessee Ernie Ford.
“I knew him, and Ernie was a very likable guy, and the power of his voice was amazing!” she said.
Check out that song for yourself below.
White’s death was confirmed by her longtime agent Jeff Witjas, who told People Magazine that the actress “died peacefully in her sleep at her home” in Los Angeles.
“Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever,” Witjas said. “I will miss her terribly and so will the animal world that she loved so much. I don’t think Betty ever feared passing because she always wanted to be with her most beloved husband Allen Ludden. She believed she would be with him again.”
White had been eagerly anticipating her 100th birthday celebration on January 17.
“I’m so lucky to be in such good health and feel so good at this age,” White said weeks before her death. “It’s amazing.”
Related: Betty White’s Agent Goes Public With Her Cause Of Death To Dispel Internet Rumors
White had previously said in a 2012 TimesTalks conversation that she had “no fear or dread of death.”
“My mother had a wonderful approach to death,” White explained. “She always thought of it as — she said, ‘We know we have managed to find out almost anything that exists, but nobody knows … what happens at that moment when it’s over.'”
“And she said, ‘It’s the one secret that we don’t know,'” she added. “So whenever we would lose somebody very close and very dear, she would always say, ‘Well, now he knows the secret.’ And it took the curse off of it somehow.”
Dolly Parton certainly hit the nail on the head – fans of Betty White will always love her. She was a ray of sunshine in a sea of gray.
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