Parton has said it was always her dream to perform at the Opry.
“For me, the Opry is like the song ‘New York, New York’ — if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere,” she said, according to her Opry artist bio.
At age 13, she got her chance. On the night of her performance, Johnny Cash introduced the young Parton and, after singing George Jones’ song “You Gotta Be My Baby,” she received three encores, the Library of Congress reported.
Parton was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry 10 years later in 1969, and in 2019, the TV special “Dolly Parton: 50 Years at the Opry” aired on NBC, honoring her first performance at the famed Opry House.
In a…
