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Published on 7/23/08
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Considering the flogging Priscilla Presley suffered after her gruesome plastic surgery became a Dancing with the Stars centerpiece, we’re led to wonder why Dolly Parton continues to get nothing but love. The current inorganic visage Dolly bears is as bizarre as the one on Michael Jackson, whose alien-looking features seem to have solidified the public’s rejection of him as an artist. Yet Parton’s plastic-surgery disasters have corresponded with a decade of revered creative triumphs.
The most obvious answer is that Parton, perhaps more than any country artist, has always been about agency: Since 1967’s Dumb Blonde, she’s made it clear who’s in control of her destiny, music and image. Artificiality balanced with authenticity has always been her theme, as intentionally absurd wigs and bedazzled couture have contrasted harmoniously with the stories and sounds of her humble Appalachian roots. So of course she celebrates her plasticity, even naming her new self-released album Backwoods Barbie. It debuted at No. 2 on Billboard country charts and was her highest pop-chart debut ever (No. 17).
Parton has craftily kept herself in the game, at an age when other Nashvillians are retired to the Opry, through a series of canny moves: releasing lauded bluegrass albums, composing the Oscar-nominated theme for 2005’s Transamerica and endearing herself to youngsters by appearing on Disney’s ode to blond-wig empowerment, Hannah Montana. But what genuinely fueled her current resurgence is her place as one of the greatest contemporary tunesmiths. Her appearance as an American Idol “mentor” proved the bombast of Kelly Clarkson–inspired bellowers cannot erase the brilliance of lyrics that (like Dolly’s face) balance synthetic melodrama with sophisticated honesty.
