Growing up, my mother loved two very specific music artists. One was her role model and the other was her self-proclaimed boyfriend. They were Dolly Parton and Elvis Presley! She loved their music and loved them as people. Before moving to East Tennessee, I was able to take my mom to Dollywood, but unfortunately, we never made it to Graceland before she passed away. However, after I moved to Tennessee, I did make it to Memphis and toured the amazing estate, all the while knowing my mom would have enjoyed being there, too.
The Philanthropist
Living in Tennessee, you hear the amazing stories of Dolly and how her heart leads her to help those in need. Her Imagination Library has sent millions of books to children around the world. She continued to give to the families devastated by the Gatlinburg Wildfires even after government assistance stopped. She invested money in Moderna to help them develop one of the vaccines for COVID-19. Most recently, she donated $1 Million of her personal money to help families left devastated due to the flooding caused by Hurricane Helene. The list goes on and on.
Connection to The King
But did you know that she had a direct connection to Elvis, too? Dolly wrote two hit songs on one night in 1973. One was “Jolene” and the other was “I Will Always Love You.” The latter song was a farewell tribute to her longtime mentor, business partner, and friend, Porter Wagner. He had given Dolly her first opportunity to showcase her talent, but she was ready to go out on her own. This song was her way to thank Wagner for his support, encouragement, and love and is why the song is so powerful.
Someone else loved that song and wanted to record it as well. None other than the King of Rock n’ Roll himself, Elvis Pressley! It was already a hit in 1974 from a recording Dolly released. With Elvis recording her song, she knew it would soar to the top of the charts again! Dolly was so excited to hear that Elvis was recording her song, she told everyone. But, the night before she was to attend the recording session, all of that changed.
Sometimes the Answer is “No”
Elvis’ manager, Tom Parker, called Dolly to say that the only way Elvis would record her song was if he received 50% or more of the publishing rights. Of course, this was more Tom Parker’s demand than Elvis’ request. Dolly explained to Parker that she couldn’t do it. That money was for her family. It was being used to support her brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews, long after Dolly was gone and she just couldn’t accept that agreement. Dolly cried the entire night after she had made the decision. But, in the morning she knew it had been the right one.
Sometimes the Answer Is “Not Yet”
Years went by and her song, “Jolene” had been recorded by at least 30 different artists, in multiple languages, and was a hit in countries around the world! But, it wasn’t until 19 years after “I Will Always Love Your” was written that it skyrocketed to the top of the charts and stayed there for weeks!
In 1975, a year after “I Will Always Love You’ was released by Dolly and hit the charts, Lawrence Kasdan wrote a screenplay. That screenplay eventually became a hit movie 17 years later starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner. It was Costner that suggested Houston sing a country song for the movie. She listened to Dolly’s song and it was reworked by producer David Foster. What had began as a simple country goodbye song had evolved into a powerful ballad that transcends music genre.
Sometimes the Answer Is “Yes”
The first time Dolly heard Whitney’s version, she was driving home in her Cadillac and had to pull off the road to keep from wrecking! Dolly said that it was one of the greatest experiences she had ever had in her entire life!
Worth Waiting For
Whitney’s version became a mega hit and that year grossed over $20 Million worldwide, which is the equivalent to over $40 Million today. It still plays on as one of the most iconic songs ever recorded. And, in an interview with Andy Cohen, Dolly said that she used some of the proceeds from that song to invest in an African-American neighborhood in Nashville in honor of Whitney Houston after the singer died in 2012.
As for Presley, Dolly has made enough money from this one song and all the iterations to purchase Graceland multiple times over. But, Dolly insists that she never turned down Elvis, she turned down his manager Tom Parker. She would have loved to have heard his version of her song, but it never came to be. Years later, Priscilla Pressley told Dolly that Elvis sang it to her as they were leaving the courthouse after their divorce. He truly loved that song.
So, what does this story and Dolly’s experience teach us? We feel excited when things work out the way we think they should and the answer to our prayers, requests, or dreams is ‘yes’. However, many times we are devasted when the answer to our hopes and dreams is ‘no.’ But, what we may realize is that the answer wasn’t actually ‘no’, but ‘not yet.’ Sometimes the timing isn’t right and sometimes our dreams are realized so much bigger than we could have ever imagined, if only we just wait.
Dolly held on to her song because she new that she needed to keep the royalties for her family. As hard as it was to turn down the opportunity she had with Elvis, her dream was realized millions of times over by another gifted artist. And like Dolly, we too, can realize that our dreams were just waiting on the right moment to be realized.
Sometimes the answer is yes.
Sometimes the answer is no.
Sometimes the answer is not yet.
Are you willing to wait?
