The singer Dolly Parton, who has died aged 80 after suffering from cancer, had a ready fund of quips, most mercilessly self-deprecating. “It takes a lot of money to look this cheap” was perhaps the most famous, and undoubtedly the one that best captured her appetite for glitz and mischief. Bountiful talent as a singer and songwriter was the bedrock of her success, but her wit and maximalist approach also charmed the public. She was a much-loved figure even to those who knew none of her music apart from the huge hits Jolene and I Will Always Love You: at the Glastonbury festival in 2014, she attracted what was reportedly the largest crowd in its history.
“Borderline absurd” was the Guardian’s approving verdict on that show, during which Parton tooted a rhinestone saxophone and improvised a song called Mud (her crystal-studded white suit survived the weather unsullied). But that was just a workaday gig for a character who was always “on” in public. Ebullient and warm by nature, she created a persona that had no real precedent in country music – she was a fantasy figure who was also very real. The exterior fakery, modelled on “a whore or a high-class prostitute, not even so much high-class”, as she told Rolling Stone in 1980, was grounded by deep intelligence and honesty.
