Dolly Parton is the queen bee wherever she chooses to roam.
As a businesswoman, she has chosen to mostly grow her brand in her hometown area of Sevierville, Tenn., located in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains.
Certainly, few can compete with her in the Smokies. She is a gigantic fish in a little pond.
Over the years, B-list country celebrities tried to set up shop in Pigeon Forge or the surrounding areas only to fall away.
In more recent years, other celebrities like Paula Deen, Jimmy Buffet and Blake Shelton have set up shop within the confines of Sevier County with more success. But their footprint doesn’t come close to Dolly’s.
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Why would Dolly Parton set her sights on Nashville?
Sevier County is Dolly’s hometown, but it’s not currently her home.
The starry-eyed dreamer left East Tennessee for Music City in 1964. She’s lived in the same house in Brentwood with her husband Carl Dean since 1999.
And after all these years, she may be looking to start swimming in that much larger pond. And while no one in Nashville is bigger than Dolly Parton, there are some pretty big names she’ll be in competition with.
What do we know about the Dolly Parton Center in Nashville?
During a recent interview with the Tennessean, Dolly was quoted as saying she’d like to have a museum in Nashville.
“I’m going to have a museum here [in Nashville] pretty soon,” she said, adding that she would like to open it within the next couple of years.
She indicated that the museum could be part of a larger complex, calling it a “Dolly Center”.
At this time, it’s not clear if the museum would be focused on Dolly like the Chasing Rainbows Museum in Dollywood, which was closed for the 2022 season to be “reimagined”.
A Nashville museum could have a wider scope.
For the uninitiated, the Chasing Rainbows Museum has been home to Parton memorabilia, instruments, costumes and the like.
With her connections across the music industry, in Nashville, Parton could likely present something that expands beyond her personal collection into country music itself, perhaps even across musical genres and into movies and television.
It’s possible that her Nashville endeavors could include a restaurant or bar as well.
Every country star worth their salt has a bar and grill or honky tonk in downtown Nashville. Off the top of my head, the list includes the likes of Luke Bryan and Miranda Lambert with Garth Brooks and Eric Church jumping into the competition in coming years.
Dolly isn’t ready to do it yet, but she says the time is approaching.
“… I may have a restaurant or a bar and grill,” Parton said. “Right now though, I’ve got so many things going. I can do without that for the moment. But someday I will have a business here.”
Read Also: Dollywood attraction to be reimagined: What’s next for Chasing Rainbows?
What’s Dolly Parton doing that’s keeping her so busy?
She’s working on multiple projects with NBC including “Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas” – some or all of which was filmed at the Dollywood park this summer. She’s also ready to co-host Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party with her goddaughter to welcome the year 2023.
That’s in addition to her many projects in Sevier County, which include Dollywood and its resorts as well as multiple dinner theaters.
She was recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame where she debuted her new rock song. Now she says she’s inspired to do a Rock and Roll album.
“When I got nominated for the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, I thought ‘Well, no better time to do it,’” Parton said in an interview with Pollstar.
“I had always wanted to do it. My husband is a big hard rock ‘n’ roll fan, and for years I thought, ‘One of these days I’d like to do an album mainly just for him, just to kind of do it.’ When I got nominated, I thought, ‘Why not just go ahead and do it while the iron’s hot? Maybe have some of the greats, the legends of rock ‘n’ roll sing along with me.’”
Parton says she wants to collab with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page from Led Zepplin. But I personally think she ought to give Paul McCartney a call. He’s one of the few people in the business on Dolly’s level.
Dolly Parton is known for her philanthropy
Parton was recently in the news again when Amazon founder and professional giver of money Jeff Bezos gave her a $100 million grant to go out into the world and do good.
Dolly is famous for her philanthropic endeavors which range from the Imagination Library to supporting Sevier County residents after the Gatlinburg fire of 2016.
She also donated a million dollars that went to scientific research in 2020. She has also been known for championing efforts to save the American Chestnut Tree.
Now, she’s got 1/10th of a billion dollars of Bezos’ money to do good.
Bezos said he chose Dolly because she gives with heart.
Dolly said she will do good things with the money.
Read Also: How much is Dolly Parton worth? The reason she’s not a billionaire
Does Dolly have anything else going on?
You know she does. She recently launched Puppy Parton – a new line of dog clothes, accessories and toys. Unsurprisingly, a portion of the proceeds will go to the Willa B. Farms rescue which finds homes for displaced animals.
“‘Puppy Love’ was my very first record and six decades later my love for pets is stronger than ever. That inspired me to start my own line of Doggy Parton clothing, accessories, toys and more with a little Dolly flair,” says Parton in a social media post.
“A portion of the proceeds will support Willa B Farms, a rescue where animals in need find endless love. Don’t we all need that?”
Among the items is a red checked jumpsuit dress, a red checked western shirt with a collar and a shirt that says “In a World Full of Jolenes, be a Dolly.”
Is that the only new venture for Dolly?
Ha ha ha. No. Dolly recently launched a new perfume called Smoky Mountain to go with A Scent from Above which launched in 2021. Smoky Mountain is the first fragrance in her Front Porch Collection.
Smoky Mountain is a “woody, floral scent featuring notes of tiger orchid, warm tonka and cashmere woods.”
In November of 2022, right before her TV special was due to come out, she released her greatest hits record called “Dolly Parton – Diamonds & Rhinestones: The Greatest Hits Collection.”
The record includes two dozen of her hits including “9 to 5,” “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You.”
If her business record is any indication, a Nashville museum would likely do well.
Would you visit a Dolly Parton museum in Nashville? Let us know in the comments.
