Truth about woman who inspired Dolly Parton's iconic 'Jolene' after death at 80
Truth about woman who inspired Dolly Parton's iconic 'Jolene' after death at 80
Minnie Wright & Jeremiah HasselTue, August 25, 2026 at 6:48 PM UTC
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Dolly Parton: Jolene singer said the inspiration came from a flirtatious bank teller who had her eye on her husband -Credit:GETTY
Dolly Parton's Jolene debuted in 1973 as the lead single from her album of the same name. The song earned two Grammy nominations at the time, and Dolly eventually secured the Grammy for Best Country Duo/Group Performance 43 years later with her collaboration alongside a cappella group Pentatonix.
The track has since become one of the country legend's signature songs, earning a spot on Rolling Stone's prestigious 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.
With Dolly's Netflix anthology series, "Heartstrings," launching on the platform today to explore the backstories of eight of her most beloved tracks, here's what really inspired "Jolene."
• Dolly Parton's 'Jolene': Real story of jealousy behind country legend's most iconic song
• Inside Dolly Parton's 'fiercely private' life with husband Carl Dean amid health decline
The country music icon previously shared the real-life incident that sparked the song's lyrics, pointing to a flirtatious bank employee who took a shine to her husband, Carl Dean, who died last year.
"She got this terrible crush on my husband," the singer revealed in an NPR interview in 2019. "And he just loved going to the bank because she paid him so much attention."
"It was kinda like a running joke between us — when I was saying, 'Hell, you're spending a lot of time at the bank. I don't believe we've got that kind of money.'"
Dolly Parton: Jolene is the subject of an episode of the singer's new show Heartstrings -Credit:GETTY
"So it's really an innocent song all around, but sounds like a dreadful one," she explained, reports the Express.
Dolly even joked about the success that woman inadvertently brought her during her 2014 Glastonbury performance.
"Some of you may or may not know that that song was loosely based on a little bit of truth," she told the crowd at the Pyramid Stage," she said.
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"I wrote that years ago when my husband... was spending a little more time with Jolene that I thought he should be. I put a stop to that.
"I got rid of that redhead woman in a hurry," she added, drawing a thunderous cheer from the audience.
"I want you folks to know, though, that something good can come from anything," she continued. "Had it not been for that woman, I would never have written Jolene and I wouldn't have made all that money. So, thank you, Jolene."
Yet there's far more to the song than its surface story of jealousy and a striking bank teller.
In an unearthed interview with a Norwegian TV program, Dolly recalled a young girl whose name inspired her to put pen to paper.
"One night, I was on stage, and there was this beautiful little girl — she was probably 8 years old at the time," she said. "And she had this beautiful red hair, this beautiful skin, these beautiful green eyes, and she was looking up at me, holding, you know, for an autograph.
"I said, 'Well, you're the prettiest little thing I ever saw. So, what's your name?' And she said, 'Jolene.'
"And I said, 'Jolene. Jolene. Jolene. Jolene.' I said, 'That is pretty. That sounds like a song. I'm going to write a song about that,'" Dolly revealed.
Although the star has acknowledged that certain aspects of the story told in the lyrics of "Jolene" were rooted in reality, she has enjoyed a happy marriage to Dean spanning more than five decades.
Meanwhile, Dolly's Netflix series, "Heartstrings," launches in 2019, with the fourth episode centered on Jolene.
The eight-part series delved into the backstory and inspiration for several of Dolly's beloved tracks, including "These Old Bones," "Sugar Hill" and "Two Doors Down."
In the trailer, Dolly says, "Songs, they're just stories put to music. They're stories of my life: every trial, every struggle, every smile, every sorrow. It's the melody of my memories. It's the sound of my heartstrings."
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
