There’s been a lot of talk about approval ratings lately, so let’s pour one out, or a few billion, for Dolly Parton, the only superstar in the history of entertainment to rise to a 100% public approval rating for even a moment, let alone 60 years. It doesn’t matter that no empirical surveys were regularly taken; intuitively, we know that virtually every American on any side of any musical or cultural equation would unabashedly own up to Dolly love. Charlie Chaplin, Elvis, the Beatles, Tom Cruise, Taylor Swift and all the rest can eat their relatively polarizing hearts out when it comes to the universality of adoration for the woman who began her career singing as inconsequential a novelty song as “Dumb Blonde.”
Being the most towering figure — at 5 foot 0! — in the history of country music was the tip of the iceberg. Beyond the songwriting that alone would have gotten her into multiple halls of fame, beyond the fleeting but still highly stream-worthy movie career, there were the enduring elements of persona and philanthropy. Like a messianic bombshell from right out of the backwoods, she was everyone’s favorite poet laureate who happened to have a new frozen-food product line in supermarkets in 2026; a favorite Johnny Carson guest for the boob-joke possibilities and the popular symbol for literacy advocacy; the closest thing we had or will ever have to a flirty Jesus.
