Brandi Carlile remembered Dolly Parton, the Country Music Hall of Fame member who died Tuesday at 80 after a brief battle with cancer, in a social media post.
“She took a risk and accepted me for being gay in a time where she didn’t need to say anything,” Carlile wrote on Instagram. “She never wavered on accepting anyone for who they were and who they were meant to be.”
Carlile shared the stage with Parton and her Highwomen bandmates—Maren Morris and Natalie Hemby—at the 2019 Newport Folk Festival. A highlight was Carlile’s performance of “I Will Always Love You” with Parton.
Carlile also recalled watching Parton perform at Glastonbury in 2014. “I can’t help but laugh out loud when I think of the raptured audience at Glastonbury in the palm of Dolly’s hands,” she wrote, adding that Parton ended her set by shouting, “can I get an amen?!”
Carlile said Parton once prayed over her. “She took my face in her hands and prayed over me once. I’ve never been the same since,” she wrote. “Her prayers were maybe more powerful than mine or anyone else’s, because that prayer has had a very long rainbow colored halo,” she added, saying she hoped it lasts her whole life.
Parton’s death prompted tributes from artists including Shania Twain, Eminem, Jack White and Kacey Musgraves.
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Source: Rolling Stone Music
