Arizonans are paying tribute to country music legend Dolly Parton, who died August 25 at age 80.
Parton was born in tiny Pittman Center, Tennessee, in 1946. Across her six-decade-long career, she sold more than 100 million records, won eleven Grammy Awards and three Emmys, and wrote some of the best-known songs in the history of country music, including “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You.”
In 1987, Parton released the collaborative album Trio with Emmylou Harris and Tucson-born Linda Ronstadt. In a statement, Ronstadt described recording with Parton as “one of the most extraordinary musical experiences of my life.”
“The world is a poorer place without her,” she added.
A second album from the group, Trio II, arrived in 1999, the year Parton was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Watch them perform a cover of Neil Young’s “After the Gold Rush” – which won a Grammy for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals – on The Late Show with David Letterman below:
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes also released a statement. Fontes said Parton’s music was “part of the soundtrack of my life” and that “[h]er wit, warmth, humility, and enormous heart made her feel like someone we all knew.”
He also praised Parton’s humanitarian work, saying she “leaves behind a legacy of music, generosity and joy that will endure for generations.”
Gov. Katie Hobbs has ordered flags at state buildings across Arizona to be lowered in Parton's honor. The flags will fly at half-staff from Aug. 25 to sunset on Sept. 1.
