They say legends never die, and it’s true that many will continue to live on through the contributions they’ve made to the world. In a physical sense, though, that’s just unfortunately not how it works, and it seems Dolly Parton has given at least a little thought to that fact. The 77-year-old country music legend is going viral for a wild comment she made, saying she’ll “hopefully drop dead” during a show one day, while Kelly Clarkson recently revealed her honest thoughts about performing one of Parton’s most iconic hits — and the milestone moment that occurred as she was preparing to go on stage.
Dolly Parton Said She Hopes To ‘Drop Dead’ On Stage
The hilarious and self-deprecating Queen of Country is preparing to release the 49th studio album of her seven-decade career. Most people don’t make their rock debut in their late 70s, but Dolly Parton is not your average gal, and she recently had an A+ comment when sharing her feelings on retirement. On the Greatest Hits Radio show, Parton mused:
I would never retire. I’ll just hopefully drop dead in the middle of a song onstage someday — hopefully one I’ve written. That’s how I hope to go. Of course, we don’t have much of a choice in that. But as long as I’m able to work, as long as my health is good and my husband is good. I mean, the only way that I would ever slow down or stop would be for that reason. But in the meantime I'm gonna make hay while the sun shines.
I can’t help but think that would be a pretty traumatic experience for her audience, should she actually pass in the middle of a performance, but there’s certainly beauty in the thought of going while you’re doing something you love. Dolly Parton’s viral pondering comes amid Kelly Clarkson’s own comments about the “Jolene” singer’s music.
Kelly Clarkson Gets Candid About Her Dolly Parton Tribute
When Kelly Clarkson was asked to sing at the 2022 ACM Awards in a tribute to Dolly Parton, the answer was an easy yes for the American Idol champion. However, when she learned that she’d been picked to sing “I Will Always Love You,” which was famously sung by Whitney Houston on The Bodyguard soundtrack and is widely considered to be one of the most difficult songs to cover, she had a less-than-favorable reaction, telling Andy Cohen on SiriusXM:
I was like, ‘Everyone can suck it.’ I was like, ‘No one wants to sing that song.’ You either have to be Whitney Houston or Dolly Parton to sing that song. So it’s just, it’s a hard play. It’s just the biggest soundtrack, first of all, from any movie, The Bodyguard, and you know, that’s a top-tier, not many people better than Whitney Houston and Dolly Parton, especially being the original writer.
To sing that song live during an awards show is one thing, but to do it in front of the legend herself? It’s easy to see why Kelly Clarkson may have been worried she was set up to fail. It turns out, though, that on the night of the ACM Awards, something happened that put an ironic twist on what she was about to do. Clarkson continued:
Right before I go on stage to sing a song called ‘I Will Always Love You,’ I’m looking at Dolly Parton, and I’m like, I just got in my texts, like, ‘Hey, your divorce is final. You’ve both signed,’ and I was like OK. Like right before getting on a stage to sing ‘I Will Always Love You.’ I was like, ‘Screw you, universe.’ That’s the timing?
Kelly Clarkson has addressed her ex-husband Brandon Blackstock through song before — even before the release of her album Chemistry, which is brimming with breakup songs that she wrote during her divorce. On her talk show’s Kellyoke segments she changed the lyrics to Billie Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever”, and more recently took a shot at not just her ex but his father as well, amid their ongoing legal battle over unpaid commissions. “I Will Always Love You” isn’t really the vibe when it comes to her situation.
Kelly Clarkson certainly killed it at the awards show, though, despite any nerves she may have had going in, but I kind of hope that’s as far as the killing goes when it comes to that or any of Dolly Parton’s other music.
