Growing up in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, Dolly Parton was always a part of Gavin Harper’s life.
The small mountain town is only 10 miles from Dollywood and about 16 from Locust Ridge, where Parton grew up. Earlier this year, Harper found out he had been chosen as the recipient of the 2026 Dolly Parton Scholarship, making his connection to the iconic late superstar even sweeter.
“Somebody should have told this kid in 12 years he’d be chasing dreams he doesn’t even know he has yet,” he wrote on Instagram in May, alongside a video sharing the news. “Thank you @dollyparton for helping make this kid’s dream come true.”
Parton died at the age 80 on Aug. 25, with fans and friends mourning the country icon, including Harper who posted a musical tribute to his “inspiration.”
In his video, he performs her 1987 song “Wildflowers” and notes that without Parton he “literally wouldn’t be where I am today.”
He recently started as a freshman at Belmont University in Nashville, telling NBC News that the $15,000 he got from the Dolly Parton Scholarship was the last bit he needed to attend his dream school where he’s studying songwriting.
“Dolly’s been a huge thing for me. And when I got in my freshman year (of high school), I fell in love with music completely,” Harper says, sharing he then knew he wanted to be a musician. “… And the best person I could look to was Dolly Parton because she grew up 10 minutes from my house.”
He shares how Parton was “everything” to his community. He says his brother was born at the Dolly Parton Birthing Unit at Covenant Health LeConte in Sevierville, Tennessee, and he attended elementary school “where all of her nieces and nephews went.” He was also part of Parton’s Imagination Library, which sends out free children’s books every month.
“I used to call her the Book Lady because she would always send books,” he says. “That’s just how I knew her as when I was young.”
When he was 14, he played at The Pines Downtown in Sevierville, “where Dolly played her first paid show when she was 10,” he says.
“I remember my mom made a huge deal of that, and it meant nothing to me at the time because I just didn’t understand it,” Harper recalls. “But now that means the world to me.”
This past year, he decided to apply to The Dolly Parton Scholarship, which is part of The Dollywood Foundation. The scholarship provides funds to students who “have a dream they wish to pursue and who can successfully communicate their plan and commitment to realize their dreams,” per the website.
Now enrolled in his first year of college and in the songwriting program, Harper is grateful for the opportunities Parton and the scholarship provided him.
“I just hope one day I can be as big an artist as Dolly,” he says. “And I hope that I can also give back to my community and be a good influence on the world.”
Liz Calvario is a Los Angeles-based senior editor for TODAY.com who covers entertainment, pop culture and trending news.
