How Dolly Parton Once Saved a Small-Town Promoter’s Bacon When Their Headliner Got Too Drunk to Play

Following the tragic passing of the world’s most beloved country music star, philanthropist, and bedazzled fashion icon, previously unheard stories about Dolly Parton are coming out of the woodwork, posthumously highlighting the generosity, work ethic, and charisma we all knew she possessed throughout her lifetime. One such story comes from a personal anecdote from a woman whose father was a concert promoter in eastern Kentucky.

Like Parton’s native eastern Tennessee, much of eastern Kentucky is rural, with many people living on or below the poverty line. That makes jobs like small-town concert promotion incredibly important. But it also makes it more challenging, because resources are so scarce to begin with. When an artist can’t hold up their end of the deal, the concert promoter is often responsible for refunding ticket buyers.

That’s what the Threads user’s father thought might happen when Porter Wagoner was unable to perform one fateful night in East Kentucky. Until Dolly Parton came along.

Dolly Parton Was on the Road With Porter Wagoner When She Saved the Day

According to Threads user @KittySmithAbyssGazer, her father was a “not-too-successful small-time promoter in Eastern Kentucky in the late 60s. He took a huge risk on bringing the Porter Waggoner [sp] show to town. Unfortunately, the night of the sold-out show, Porter was dead drunk in his tour bus. The rest of the cast, however, wanted to go on anyway. Refunds were offered, but people were encouraged to stay for a little while to see how it would go.” 

The true star of the show that night, the promoter’s daughter said, was Dolly Parton. “Porter Waggoner’s ‘girl singer’ took the stage in a purple velvet minidress.” She said that Parton “picked up a banjo [and] proceeded to perform the wildest, most energetic rendition of ‘Mile Skinner Blues’ anyone had ever heard. She was just a whirlwind, and the rest of the cast was just as enthusiastic. Only two people requested refunds. Thanks to Dolly, my dad’s bacon was saved.”

Other people who caught Parton on tour with Porter Wagoner between 1967 and 1974 shared similar memories of the blonde and buxom performer. Even when the other entertainers, including Wagoner, left the stage, Parton stayed behind to talk to her fans. Michael Collins, who saw Parton perform in Whitesburg, Kentucky, when he was only six years old, recalled Parton “signing autographs, chatting with fans, forever smiling,” per USA Today.

“She had an extraordinary gift in the way she connected with her audience,” Collins said. “She could be performing before 10,000 people. But when she pulled up a chair, sat down in front of the mic, and shared her stories of growing up dirt poor in East Tennessee, you felt like she was talking to you—and no one else.”

Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images