Dolly Parton Explains Why She Had To Fire Her Family Members As A Backup Ban
via TheThings Celebrity / YouTube
When Dolly Parton first started out as a solo artist, she chose her family members to form her band. Initially, she thought it was a good idea to have her siblings and cousins as her musical companions. The star singer soon came to realize that this arrangement was not suitable for her career direction.
The Traveling Family Band
In her autobiography, “Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business”, Parton details this challenging period in her career. “I felt like my dream was on course,” she wrote. “I put together a new band made up mostly of family members and called it the Traveling Family Band. It included brothers and sisters and a few cousins.”
Despite her family’s musical talents and their strong bond, Parton found managing them to be stressful. She pointed out that though they were great musicians, their involvement in her career turned out to be a ‘huge mistake.’ ” Here I was trying to listen to another voice, trying to move in a new direction, and my falling back into my family was grounding me in my past,” she reflected.
Parton felt grounded in her past by involving her family members in her solo career. As such, she felt it necessary to let them go and explore her musical passion in a new direction.
Upon deeper thought, Parton came to understand that she had hired her family out of a desire for security. They brought her comfort as she navigated the new and daunting path of being a solo artist.
“Maybe that was the part that was the mistake, I don’t know,” she speculated. “I only know that my dear, sweet family members were not the people that this particular incarnation of Dolly Parton needed to be on the road with.”
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Disbanding and Unexpected Blossoms
Telling her family that they had to leave was a harsh, regrettable decision she had to make as she paved her path in the music industry. “That is what made it so painful when I had to tell them The Traveling Family Band was to disband. It was crushing to me too,” she shared, expressing her sorrow over the decision.
Despite this, Dolly Parton still had big dreams of them working together. She continued, “I have always had dreams of all of us working together in big-time show business that not even watching the Jacksons could dim. It may happen one day yet. The talent is certainly there.”
Looking back, however, Parton admitted that there came one good thing from hiring her family. A sweet romance blossomed between her young sister, Rachel, and singer Richard Dennison during their time on tour.
“One positive thing that came out of that experience was the relationship between two of my backup singers,” she said. “I tried to stay on top of things, like keeping them off the top of each other.”
Little did she know that their love was genuine. The two fell in love and married in 1979. “They are now happily married and are the parents of my beloved niece Hannah. Richard is still with my band. He is a talented performer and a fine person, and I’m proud to have him in my family,” she wrote.
Dolly Parton recognized her hasty decision to hire her family as her band was a mistake.
