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Dolly Parton has always been one tragedy away from country sainthood. No plane crashes, widowhood, stalker or savage attack, or devastating scandal has ever really toted Dolly to the stars; Dolly’s natural shocks have all been in the realm of bad taste, which Dolly in fact has always embraced — there’s disco Dolly, bad actress Dolly, endlessly self-effacing Dolly with her wigs and her winks. And none of that can take away the simple truth that Dolly is brilliant and perfect, a gaudy but honest gem, a diamond disguised in tinsel and rhinestone. She’s one of the great writers, great singers, great performers and great personalities of country, and as much at home singing “Jolene” under a mirrorball as she might be singing “I Will Always Love You” in Daisy Mae drag, scratching her absurd fingernails over a fretboard. Dolly’s at the Dodge, and remember, she’s the queen of the roller derby.
