Queen of country, blonde fairy, iron butterfly, the nightingale of the Smoky Mountains, the Barbie of the woods, the Lady of books, sexy bomb… there have been many nicknames given to her throughout her long career, a testament to what she built in life. For the history of music, Dolly Parton has stood as a legendary figure, described as the “queen of country music,” an extraordinary songwriter and one of the most influential and successful female artists of all time. For fans (and beyond), here are the places that have left a mark on her personal life and her artistry.
New themed hotel and museum
In Nashville, the capital of Tennessee, the state where Dolly Parton was born in 1946, and the city where she left us on August 25, 2026 after blowing out exactly 80 candles, is just opened the SongTeller Hotel, which has already been called “Dolly’s declaration of love to the city of Nashville.” It had already been planned and was the last place dear to Dolly. An official note states that her iconic charm and her singer‑songwriter spirit are reflected in all 245 rooms and suites, with the texts of her songs engraved on the headboards.
The hotel offers an immersive experience in the spirit of the South of the United States. The new hotel dedicated to Dolly Parton also features two honky-tonks, Parton’s Live and Jolene’s (named after one of her famous songs), where live music is performed, as happens along all of Lower Broadway, also known as Music Row, the street where many of Nashville’s music venues are concentrated, many of which display Dolly’s silhouette as a sexy bomb on the signage.
Inside the hotel there is also set to open a Dolly Parton themed museum, the Many Colors Museum. The planned date is October 2026 and it will be the largest exhibition dedicated to Dolly, occupying the entire third floor of the hotel. The museum will be designed to immerse visitors in her extraordinary life path, with exhibits recounting her ascent “from the mountaintops to the top of the world,” her fabulous outfits and even the motorhome used by the singer during her tours.
“I’m excited about the opening of my hotel and museum in Nashville,” Parton told the press at the project’s announcement. “Broadway has become such a tourist magnet that this seemed the right moment to offer something special, to add to Nashville’s extraordinary vitality. I’ve always dreamed of creating something here, in the Music City, and I know we’ve found the perfect addition for the city I consider home.” A few weeks before her death, she had remarked: “This museum is a place where people can see my journey through my eyes: every color, every story and every dream that brought me here.”
Dollywood, Dolly’s Theme Park
Anyone wishing to retrace the places of the world’s most famous country singer-songwriter, ten-time Grammy winner, now has two new stops on the Dolly Parton Music Tour.
Undoubtedly a must‑stop on Dolly’s itinerary is Dollywood, the famous theme park and one of Tennessee’s most visited attractions (about two million visitors a year), celebrating Appalachian culture and music. Opened in 1986 (this very year it celebrated its 40th anniversary), it is part of Dollywood Parks & Resorts together with the water park Dollywood’s Splash Country and the Dixie Stampede, a theatre-restaurant, a kind of Disneyland dedicated to a single figure: Dolly Parton. They are located in Pigeon Forge, about 25 km from Pittman Center, Dolly’s mountain hometown, near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the United States’ most visited national park.
Inside Dollywood there is also a faithful reproduction of the wooden house with two rooms where Dolly grew up with her eleven siblings. Inside, a plaque quotes her words: “These mountains and my childhood home hold a special place in my heart. They inspire my music and my life. I hope that being here does the same for you!” In this small dwelling, with no electricity or running water, the kitchen walls are covered with floral wallpaper, the table is set with aluminum plates and coffee cups, some baskets are filled with firewood and old photographs of her parents hang above the bed.
Within the park, visitors ride aboard the Dollywood Express, a steam locomotive that existed even before the park opened as it was created by the park’s former owner for the “Rebel Railroad” in 1961.
Dollywood isn’t just a theme park. The artist also ensured spaces for local crafts shops. In addition, it is used as a venue for musical events (sometimes even Dolly’s own concerts). Moreover, part of the revenues from the venues goes to charitable activities via the Dollywood Foundation, a foundation primarily focused on children’s literacy and which runs a program called Imagination Library, offering a free monthly book to every child under six years old living in the three areas where Dollywood operates.
The Sevierville House
In 1984, Dolly Parton’s parents, Robert Lee and Avie Lee Parton, bought a red-roofed house in Sevierville, Tennessee. The house, much larger than the mountain cabin, had been built in 1917 and featured three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms and two fireplaces, a notable change. Nestled in more than 25 acres of gentle green hills, the property offered privacy, ample space and a panoramic view of the landscape. After the death of her parents, in 2003 Parton sold the house to a family friend. Nearly twenty years later, the current owners of “Red Top” continue the philanthropic legacy of the Parton family. In 2022, they temporarily transformed the charming residence into a wedding venue, after a nearby structure was destroyed in the Sevier County wildfires. Today, a bronze statue of Dolly Parton depicting the young singer with a guitar stands in front of the county courthouse.
I luoghi di Dolly Parton a Nashville
Nashville represented the launchpad from which the girl Dolly, raised in the Great Smoky Mountains, became a global legend, Dolly Parton. The relationship between Dolly and Nashville has been inseparable and decisive for the entire history of country music: Nashville represents for her the land of opportunities, while Dolly has become one of the city’s greatest icons.
The exact day after graduating in 1964, at eighteen, she took a line bus from her rural hometown to move to Nashville. On the very first day in the city she met her future husband, Carl Dean. In the capital of songwriting, Dolly first established herself as a songwriter for other artists, signing contracts with the historic labels of Music Row before bursting through as a solo artist, recording in the historic RCA Studio B, where she cut many of her greatest hits, including “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You.”
She debuted at the famous Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, one of the iconic venues of country music, at only 13 years old (introduced by the legendary Johnny Cash, to whom a museum in Nashville has been dedicated), later becoming an official member in 1969. It was the stage that crowned her in the pantheon of country music. The city honors her in the Country Music Hall of Fame, the museum that preserves memorabilia, stage costumes and gold records dedicated to her career, with a permanent honors section and with her inclusion in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame since 1986.
