Dolly Parton Reveals How She Dealt With People Who Called Her ‘Trash’

Dolly Parton is a country music legend whose entire look is nothing short of iconic. However, her look was not always appreciated when she was growing up in rural Tennessee. 

In a new interview, the 76-year-old “Jolene” singer is revealing how she dealt with those who told her that she looked “cheap” when she was younger.

Parton Refused To Change For Haters

“The main advice that people wanted to give me was to change my look and to go simpler with my hair and the way that I dress. Not to look so cheap, nobody was ever going to take me seriously, they would say,” Parton said while appearing on the “Work Life” with Adam Grant podcast.

Thankfully, Parton ignored them and continued to make herself look exactly the way she wanted to, even when others told her that she was “trash.”

“The way I look and the way I looked then was a country girl’s idea of glam, just like I wrote in my ‘Backwoods Barbie’ song. But people wanted me to change, they thought I looked cheap. But I patterned my look after the town tramp,” Parton said.

“Everybody said, ‘She’s trash,'” she added. “And in my little girl mind, I thought, ‘Well, that’s what I’m going to be when I grow up.’ It was really like a look that I was after. I wasn’t a natural beauty. So, I just like to look the way I look. I’m so outgoing inside in my personality, that I need the way I look to match all of that.”

She says she wasn’t a natural beauty, but you can tell she’s being modest when you see her without a wig (although you’ll never see Dolly Parton without makeup).

Related: Dolly Parton Praises James Woods – ‘One Of The Greatest Actors Of All Time’

Money Isn’t Important To Parton

Parton grew up in poverty in a “one-room cabin” with eleven brothers and sisters, and while she has gone on to make millions, she’s never seen wealth as something that’s important in life. 

“I count my blessings far more than I count my money because I know this could have not happened to me,” she said. “I see so many people more talented than me that never make it and the fact that I have just done so well I’m amazed myself. It’s almost scary sometimes.”

“I hope I can always live up to the expectations of me it would break my heart not to,” Parton added. “I’m very humble and that’s because of my love for God and the blessings.” 

Parton’s Secret To 55-Year Marriage

While Parton is as busy as ever these days, she also enjoys spending as much time as possible with Carl Dean, her husband of 55 years. In a 2020 interview with People Magazine, she credited the fact that she is comfortable in her own skin as being the secret behind her decades-long marriage.

“And that’s sexy,” she said at the time. “You may not want to dress or look like me, you can take from that to be yourself. I’m a very passionate person in everything that I do, and I think passion has great sex appeal. I think people are drawn to that because it’s magic. It’s an energy.”

Related: Dolly Parton Finally Reveals The Truth About Her Breasts – ‘It’s Not True’

“And I’ve always been a great lover because I’m passionate,” Parton continued. “I just feel my sensuality, my sexuality, my passion, and I don’t have to apologize for any of that. I’ve never been offensive in any way, never tried to be. Or I’ve never tried to be anything other than just what I am.”

We can all learn quite a lot from Parton’s outlook on life. God bless her for continuing to impart her wisdom to the rest of the world!