1976career
Dolly! — A Diverse Variety Show
1977
Dolly! — syndicated TV that booked soul, disco, and gospel alongside country
Photo creditOn Dolly! (1976–77), Parton used one of the most expensive syndicated shows ever produced out of Nashville to book performers country TV rarely welcomed: The Staple Singers, KC and the Sunshine Band, The Hues Corporation, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr., and more. She sang with them as equals — treating soul, disco, and gospel as natural neighbors to country, not foreign intruders.
Did you know
Scholars have noted that Parton's variety shows in the late 1970s and again in 1987–88 stood in sharp contrast to the white establishment that defined country music — acknowledging Black influence the industry often erased.