Dolly Parton was such an inspiration to Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman that the singer named her daughter after her.
While appearing on TODAY with her bandmates, Schlapman recalled the moment her daughter Dolly met the Dolly Parton, who died at 80 on Aug. 25. Schlapman showed a photo of Parton with a big smile on her face as she held Dolly.
“That’s the Dolly and my little Dolly,” Schlapman said on the show before Little Big Town’s concert. “She invited us up on her bus to meet the other Dolly. She always had the sweetest things to say about my Dolly. She’d always say, ‘How’s my Dolly? How’s my Dolly?’”
Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild then remembered the sweet name Schlapman’s Dolly had for her namesake.
“Then her Dolly called Dolly, she’d say, ‘My Parton,’” Fairchild said. “‘That’s my Parton.’”
“Dolly means ‘my’ to her, so ‘my Parton,’” Schlapman said.
Schlapman also posted the photo of her daughter with Parton on Instagram Aug. 27 in tribute after the country legend’s death.
“Oh, how the world is a better place because of her! I am feeling all sorts of emotions about the news of Dolly. Like so many others, she was such an inspiration to me. Yes, musically, but also in the way she lived and loved,” Schlapman wrote in part.
Schlapman and Fairchild idolized Parton before they became Grammy-winning country stars themselves.
“We all grew up on her music and all her harmonies, and Karen and I as little girls knew every harmony,” Schlapman said.
Schlapman and her husband, Stephen Schlapman, named their daughter Dolly Grace after sharing in 2017 that they had adopted a baby girl. Their Dolly is now 9 years old. They also share daughter Daisy Pearl, 19.
Schlapman and Fairchild realized their own dream of meeting and collaborating with Parton when Little Big Town performed with her during a star-studded tribute at the 2019 Grammy Awards.
“It was always our bucket list to perform with her, and we finally got the opportunity, and we will never forget it,” Schlapman said.
The band is now eager to get one more chance to pay homage to Parton. The estate of the late icon has announced that it will be holding Dollyfest, a two-day festival in Nashville and London to celebrate her life and legacy in 2027.
“We heard. We’re inviting ourselves,” Fairchild said. “I literally texted her agents yesterday. Dollyfest, we’re there.”
