#Dolly Parton Says No Thanks for Now to Statue of Her at Tennessee Capital

Dolly Parton doesn’t want to see herself turned into a statue at this time, asking Tennessee lawmakers to pull a bill calling for the erection of a Dolly statue on the state Capitol grounds. Last month, Rep. John Mark Windle introduced a bill to honor Dolly Parton with the privately-funded statue, citing her efforts as a humanitarian and contributions to the state. While she appreciates the effort, the world-famous country singer doesn’t feel that now is an appropriate time.

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— Dolly Parton (@DollyParton) February 18, 2021

“I want to thank the Tennessee legislature for their consideration of a bill to erect a statue of me on the Capitol grounds,” Parton wrote in a statement posted to Twitter. “I am honored and humbled by their intention but I have asked the leaders of the state legislature to remove the bill from any and all consideration.”

Dolly goes on to add: “Given all that is going on in the world, I don’t think putting me on a pedestal is appropriate at this time. I hope, though, that somewhere down the road several years from now or perhaps after I’m gone if you still feel I deserve it, then I’m certain I will stand proud in our great State Capitol as a grateful Tennessean. In the meantime, I’ll continue to try to do good work to make this great state proud.”

Recently, Parton also revealed that she turned down the Medal of Freedom when it was offered to her by Donald Trump during his presidency on two occasions. She turned down the first offer as her husband was ill at the time, and the next time the White House reached out, Dolly couldn’t travel because of Covid-19 restrictions. Even now, Parton is still unsure if she’d accept the award if the opportunity came back along in the future.

“Now I feel like if I take it, I’ll be doing politics, so I’m not sure,” Parton explained, adding that she’s not even sure she deserves the honor.

People are just trying to find a way to give back to Dolly as a way of saying thanks for all she’s done to help others. This includes establishing The Dollywood Foundation in 1988, and from there, launching The Imagination Library to encourage child literacy with a free book for every child each month. She has also been lauded for her substantial financial contributions towards research for a Covid-19 vaccine. Always putting others first has long been a big part of what makes Dolly so special.

Last year, Parton released her first holiday album in 30 years, A Holly Dolly Christmas, and appeared in a CBS Christmas special performing songs from the album in December. She also starred as an angel in the Netflix holiday movie Christmas on the Square. Maybe a statue of Dolly won’t be going up in Tennessee anytime soon, but it really should be something that happens someday, as we would all be hard-pressed to find anyone who’d say that she doesn’t deserve it. This news comes to us from Dolly Parton on Twitter.