From turning down Elvis to producing Buffy, here are 8 Dolly Parton secrets

We know her music. We know about her philanthropy. We know about her self-deprecating humor, but there are things you may not know about the Queen of Country, Dolly Parton.

1. She told Elvis no

While we know of Whitney Houston’s cover of her hit song “I Will Always Love You,” there could have been a different version sung by none other than Elvis.

He had asked about recording a version after Parton’s rendition went to No. 1 on the charts in 1974.

“I got the word that he was going to record it, and I was so excited. I told everybody I knew, ‘Elvis is going to record my song. You’re not going to believe who’s recording my song,’” she told CMT in 2006.

But the Queen of Country told the King of Rock and Roll no. The reason?

Elvis wanted half of the publishing rights, despite not writing a single note or word of it, American Songwriter said.

She explained that Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis’ manager, demanded part of the publishing rights for his client.

Parton recounted Parker telling her, “Now, you know we have a rule that Elvis don’t record anything that we don’t take half the publishing.”

She said, “And I was really quiet,” said Parton. “I said, ‘Well, now it’s already been a hit. I wrote it and I’ve already published it, and this is the stuff I’m leaving for my family when I’m dead and gone. That money goes in for stuff for my brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews, so I can’t give up half the publishing,’ and he said ‘Well then, we can’t record it.’”

“I guess they thought since they already had it prepared and already had it ready, that I would do it. .. Something in my heart [said] ‘Don’t do that,’ and I just didn’t do it, and they just didn’t do it,” Parton said.

She said it broke her heart to turn Elvis down.

“I said, ‘I’m sorry, but I can’t give you the publishing,” she said in 2021. “I wanted to hear Elvis sing it, and it broke my heart I cried all night. But I had to keep that copyright in my pocket. You have to take care of your business. Everybody’s going to use you if they can. These are my songs. They’re like my children. And I expect them to support me when I’m old.”

He still apparently had a connection to the song, with his ex-wife sharing a private moment with Parton.

“Priscilla told me that when she and Elvis divorced, Elvis sang my song to her,” Parton said, according to American Songwriter. “That touched me so deeply.”

Nearly 20 years after Elvis wanted to cover it, Whitney Houston did for her film “The Bodyguard.” It became a certified Diamond hit by the Recording Industry Association of America, Forbes reported. It also spent 14 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and was the best-selling single by a female artist and the sixth biggest single of all time, with more than 20 million sales, according to American Songwriter.

When Parton first heard Houston’s version, she told Oprah Winfrey that she was driving and had to pull over.

“I was shot so full of adrenaline and energy, I had to pull off because I was afraid that I would wreck, so I pulled over quick as I could to listen to that whole song,” Parton said. “I could not believe how she did that. I mean, how beautiful it was that my little song had turned into that, so that was a major, major thing.”

2. Dolly the vampire slayer?

We may not have “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” without Parton.

Parton was a producer of the show through her production company, Sandollar Productions, Entertainment Weekly reported.

“I thought ”Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was a wonderful little show,” Parton shared on Andy Cohen’s “Watch What Happens Live” in 2021. “Actually my Sandollar company, again with Sandy Gallin my manager, we had a company called Sandollar, and we were a small part of that. And I was very, very proud to be part of that.”

Not only did Sandollar produce the television show, but it also backed the original “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” film in 1992.

Sandollar executive Gail Berman believed in the story and that’s why the company backed the show. But when Berman didn’t earn as much as the men, Parton gave Berman an extra paycheck, Berman told The New York Times in 2016.

What other films did Sandollar back?

According to IMDB, the company had a role in films such as “Father of the Bride” (1991), “Sabrina” (1995) and “Fly Away Home” (1996), along with several Parton movies and shows, such as “Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings,” “Straight Talk” and “Christmas on the Square.”

3. Left a trail of rhinestones

Parton was known for her bold colored costumes covered in rhinestones.

She told Time Magazine that when she moved to Nashville, she wanted to look like a country star.

“Country stars had to have big hair and some sparkles... I related to the clothes that were worn then,” she remembered.

Then when she was told to dress more like a pop artist, she told a record label, “I can’t do what I’m supposed to do as a performer if I don’t feel comfortable within my own skin,” the BBC reported.

Country music broadcaster Baylen Leonard said that she found a trail of rhinestones one time after interviewing Parton.

“I went back into the room with my producer to get our equipment, and on the sofa where Dolly Parton had been sitting was just a scattering of sequins and rhinestones that led out the door, because she had had these jeans on that were, of course, bedazzled and bejeweled. And during the course of the interview, a bunch of them had popped out. And I gathered them up like holy relics. And I still have them. So Dolly literally leaves a trail of rhinestones wherever she goes. And that, I think, sums up Dolly Parton,” Leonard shared with the BBC.

4. Never rode the rides at Dollywood

You’d think that if you owned an amusement park you’d take advantage of full access to all the rides.

But not Parton.

She told The New York Times in 2019 that she never rode the coasters or water rides.

“I don’t ride the rides,” she said. “I never have. I have a tendency to get motion sickness. Also, I’m a little bit chicken.”

“With all my hair, I got so much to lose, like my wig or my shoes. I don’t like to get messed up. I’m gonna have some handsome man mess it up, I don’t want some ride doing it.”

5. Lost a Dolly-look-alike contest

Parton should have been a shoo-in for winning a look-alike contest, but she actually lost the competition.

“At a Halloween contest years ago on Santa Monica Boulevard, where all the guys were dressed up like me, and I just overexaggerated my look and went in and just walked up onstage … I didn’t win,” she told “Good Morning America’s” Robin Roberts in 2009. “I didn’t even come in close, I don’t think.”

6. How many instruments?

Parton was known for her guitar playing, which she used her nails for, not a pick, but she was well-versed on instruments.

She told Vogue in 2016 that she played “some of everything.”

The everything includes the dulcimer, banjo, guitar, piano, recorder, saxophone, and many others.

“My family’s very musical, and everybody played musical instruments, so we just grabbed up anything and tried to play,” she said. “Like I said, I ain’t all that good at it, but I can play enough to make a show!”

7. She had tattoos

While Parton was flashy, she kept one thing pretty much covered — her tattoos.

She told People magazine that the ink covered scars from a feeding tube and other procedures. She has ribbon, bow, butterfly, and other tattoos.

“I do have some tattoos, that’s true, but they’re tasteful. I’m not a tattoo girl,” Parton said. “My tattoos are pretty, they’re artful, and they usually started out to cover some scar, not to make a big statement.”

8. Generosity

Parton was known for her Imagination Library, but she spread her money around doing as much good as possible.

When she was given a $100 million Courage and Civility award by Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez to be used for charities of her choice, Parton said, “When people are in a position to help, you should help. And I know that I’ve always said, ‘I try to put my money where my heart is,’ and I think you do the same thing,” CBS News reported.

She founded the library in 1995 in honor of her father, who could not read or write, and provides free books every month to children from birth to age 5, regardless of income.

But it wasn’t just literacy that she supported.

Take a look at some of the other causes she backed:

$1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for COVID-19 research connected to the development of Moderna’s vaccine, with a researcher saying the money was critical to the early-stage research.
$1 million to Vanderbilt for pediatric infectious disease research.
$1,000 a month for six months to families who lost homes in East Tennessee wildfires in 2016.
$1 million of her own money and $1 million from her businesses for Hurricane Helene relief in 2024.

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