Photo: Dolly as her character in 9 to 5 | Music Icon Dolly Parton Dies Aged 80 | By Benedict Smith, The Telegraph | Dolly Parton, the country music star, has died at the age of 80. Parton, a fixture in public life for decades through her music, acting and philanthropy, had suffered a recent spell of bad health that forced her to cancel appearances and concerts.
The singer rose to fame singing ballads about her life growing up in Appalachia in the rural US.
One of 12 children born in Locust Ridge, Tennessee, Parton, who was taught to sing by her mother, would find herself on country music’s biggest stage aged just 13 when she performed at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
Although she moved to Nashville after leaving secondary school, her poor upbringing and experiences of rural Appalachia would later reappear in her music.
In “Coat of Many Colours”, she would recall being sent off to school with “patches on my britches” and “holes in both my shoes”, where fellow students mocked the patchwork coat her mother made out of a “box of rags”.
On her first day in Nashville, she met Carl Dean, a contractor, who later became her husband of almost 60 years. He died in May, aged 82.
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This is only the first story. The internet is full of Dolly Parton stories.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/music/dolly-parton-dies-aged-80/
John Macy: Dolly Parton, what a loss. Sometime in the early 70’s our band got hired to back her up doing a promotion for her new record for the only country music station in NYC. We had to show up at a rail yard for the Long Island Railroad at 2:00AM after driving down from Boston. We set up on a flat rail car, and a bunch of union guys used metal strapping strips to secure our equipment to the car, quite a feat in itself. We met Dolly and they hitched us up and we departed around 5:00am. We would roll into a rail station filled with bleary eyed commuters and a bunch of long haired, no sleep flashy shirted pickers would stumble out and play a song and then Dolly would come on and do a couple and then we would pull out for the next station, leaving a bunch of dumbfounded Long Islander’s wondering what just happened. Dolly was a champ and it’s definitely in my Top 10 of strangest gigs ever played! I wish I had some pictures!!!!
https://www.facebook.com/john.macy.12
Lyndsey Parker: I am heartbroken over the immense loss of Dolly Partonand have no words, so I will just share the interview I did with her 2022, because Dolly had a way with words unlike anyone else. She claimed she wasn’t a “natural beauty,” but I think we can all agree that she was one of the most gorgeous women of all time, because her beauty radiated from within. I will always love her.
Lyndsanity.com | Flashback: Why the eternally beautiful Dolly Parton thought she wasn’t a ‘natural beauty’: ‘I try to shine from the inside’ | https://www.facebook.com/lyndsanity
Actor Tim Curry, Known For ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show,’ Dead At 80 // Why ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ Is More Relevant Than Ever
The beloved British actor and singer was known for his portrayal of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the cult classic and as Pennywise the Dancing Clown in “It.”
By Nina Golgowski, Huff Post
British actor and singer Tim Curry, known for his portrayal of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the cult classic “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and as Pennywise the Dancing Clown in “It,” has died at 80, TMZ and Variety first reported Wednesday.
Curry died Tuesday night in Los Angeles, TMZ reported. A cause of death was not immediately available, though he had years of health issues, including a 2012 stroke that he said last year left him unable to walk.
“I still can’t walk, which is why I’m in this silly chair, and that’s very limiting. So I won’t be singing and I won’t be dancing very soon,” he said during a screening of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” on its 50th anniversary, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Curry, born in Cheshire, England, in 1946, launched his professional acting career in musical theater while performing in the original London production of “Hair” in 1968. There he befriended co-star Richard O’Brien, who went on to write “The Rocky Horror Show” and its cross-dressing mad scientist, Dr. Frank-N-Furter, according to Curry’s website.
“It just started in this tiny theater, you know, and it just took off like a sort of rocket,” he recalled of the show’s success to NPR’s “Fresh Air” in 2005.
“I think, first of all, they love the movie because it’s daring to pretty much everybody,” he said of the 1975 movie adaptation, which also featured provocative drag costumes and dance, but took far longer to see success. “It was daring at the time ― less daring now. To them, it’s daring.”
Despite initially bombing at the box office, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” is today the longest-running theatrical release in history.
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More on Mr. Curry’s life here:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/actor-tim-curry-dead_n_6a8f0486e4b02b26136e32f8
Why ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ Is More Relevant Than Ever
Half a century since Dr. Frank-N-Furter introduced fans to the “Time Warp,” the cult classic film shows no sign of losing steam — or its radical edge.
By Will Tooke, HuffPost
By now, it’s cliché to call anything a “cult classic,” but the term could have been invented for “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Now, at 50 years old, the 1975 movie musical written by Richard O’Brien occupies a unique space in pop culture, thanks to an arch-camp aesthetic, killer songs and knowing performances. A big reason why it still works is that it is what too many movies today are scared to be: gloriously weird.
The plot follows newly engaged squares Brad and Janet (Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon) as they seek refuge at a gothic castle after their car breaks down. Unluckily for them, it’s where transvestite alien mad scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter, played by the truly mesmerizing Tim Curry, is creating Rocky, a muscly, blond, lab-grown boy toy, with the help of his begrudging servants. Over the next 90 minutes, blood and mascara run as not everyone survives the ensuing bisexual love quadrangle and swimming pool orgy.
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Read more about this perfectly GREAT movie here:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-rocky-horror-picture-show-legacy_n_68ee81a7e4b0c41c2185fd32?origin=article-related-nonlife
1960s Country Music Titan Dale Morris Who Shared a Rare Historic Honor With Johnny Cash Dies at 89
By Clara Awuse, Parade
A historic era in the heart of Nashville has officially come to a close. The country music community is in deep mourning following the peaceful passing of Dale Morris, an 89-year-old visionary executive who passed away in his sleep on Friday night.
Morris’s monumental impact on the genre was so profound that the Country Music Association awarded him the ultra-exclusive Irving Waugh Award of Excellence. This prestigious, career-defining honor permanently links his legacy directly to transcendent cultural icons like Johnny Cash.
Long before he became an executive powerhouse, Morris began his journey on the creative side of the mic, famously penning a hit 1967 single for Johnny Paycheck. However, his trajectory changed forever in 1979 during a fateful visit to a legendary South Carolina venue called The Bowery. It was there that he discovered an up-and-coming band named Alabama. Under his sharp guidance, the group revolutionized country music by incorporating rock-concert production values into their live shows. They ultimately secured 33 No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, a record for duos and groups.
By the early 1990s, the veteran manager repeated history by taking a young, aspiring country singer named Kenny Chesney under his wing. Morris transformed him into a future Country Music Hall of Famer and one of the highest-grossing stadium touring artists of all time, who went on to secure a matching run of 33 No. 1 singles.
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More about Mr. Harris here:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/general/1960s-country-music-titan-who-shared-a-rare-historic-honor-with-johnny-cash-dies-at-89/
Photo: Dolly Parton as her character in 9 to 5 | From https://www.facebook.com/DollyParton
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1523247685832062&set=pb.100044405350279.-2207520000&type=3
