How Dolly Parton planned what happens next
Beloved artist, savvy businesswoman, ‘Aunt Granny’ to her family, just Dolly to the world: the incomparable Dolly Parton made detailed plans for her legacy: starting now.
Tributes are pouring in for country music superstar Dolly Parton, who died following a short illness on Tuesday. Plus, the final report by Antisemitism Royal Commissioner Virginia Bell will be delayed.
Read more:
Dolly Parton, the big haired, big hearted queen of country
From poverty to global superstardom: Dolly Parton dies, aged 80
Antisemitism royal commission pushes back final report to avoid Bondi massacre anniversary
Antisemitism royal commission a ‘lost opportunity’ without an extension: security chiefs
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Speaker 1: Today's biggest news from The Australian, I'm Clare Harvey with
Speaker 1: The Front's afternoon headlines. Beloved artist, savvy businesswoman, aunt granny
Speaker 1: to her family, just Dolly to the world. The incomparable
Speaker 1: Dolly Parton made detailed plans for her legacy starting now.
Speaker 1: From how the news was broken to funeral plans and
Speaker 1: an archive of thousands of unreleased songs, including some with
Speaker 1: specific release dates two decades hence. Dolly Parton said she
Speaker 1: wanted to be remembered as a songwriter. In fact, it
Speaker 1: will be much more than that. She was one of
Speaker 1: the most significant cultural figures of this century and the last.
Speaker 1: Flags across the United States will fly at half-mast for
Speaker 1: a week after Dolly Parton died on Tuesday following a
Speaker 1: short battle with cancer. As everyone from Beyonce to Eminem
Speaker 1: hailed their personal connection and professional inspiration online, Dolly Parton's
Speaker 1: thoughtful planning for life after death was revealed by nephew
Speaker 1: Brian Seaver.
Speaker 2: Dolly called me and said she wants to rest in
Speaker 2: a beautiful bed of plush cotton because after a life
Speaker 2: wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and
Speaker 2: have some rest.
Speaker 1: Dolly Parton once said she wanted the gospel song If
Speaker 1: We Never Meet Again played at her funeral, even though
Speaker 1: she knew there'd be an expectation of I Will Always
Speaker 1: Love You the song she wrote as a tribute to
Speaker 1: her former onstage partner Porter Wagoner in the 70s and
Speaker 1: Whitney Houston turned into a global phenomenon in the 90s.
Speaker 1: Dolly Parton was born into rural poverty in the mid-1940s.
Speaker 1: She lived with her 11 siblings and sharecropping parents in
Speaker 1: the Great Smoky Mountains in the state of Tennessee, with
Speaker 1: no electricity or running water. Brian Seaver said Dolly Parton
Speaker 1: had long ago asked him to be the one to
Speaker 1: break the news.
Speaker 2: Dolly opened doors not just for me, but for her
Speaker 2: entire family to reach the potential we didn't even know
Speaker 2: was possible. Dolly also opened doors for generations of singers, songwriters, musicians,
Speaker 2: and dreamers from every walk of life and across every continent.
Speaker 1: Dolly Parton sold more than 100 million records and scooped
Speaker 1: 11 Grammys. She starred in television and movies with the
Speaker 1: same combination of personal charm and powerful intelligence. The 1980
Speaker 1: movie 9 to 5, alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin,
Speaker 1: starred Parton as a downtrodden secretary taking back control. But
Speaker 1: I'll tell you one thing, if you ever say another
Speaker 1: word about me or make another indecent proposal, I'm going
Speaker 1: to get that gun of mine and I'm going to
Speaker 1: change you from a rooster to a hen with one shot.
Speaker 1: Don't think I can do it. The Dolly Empire, estimated
Speaker 1: to be worth north of $ 500 million, includes a Dollywood
Speaker 1: theme park in her home state of Tennessee that attracts
Speaker 1: millions of visitors every year. including The Australian's Chief International
Speaker 1: Correspondent Cameron Stewart, who's writing about his love and respect
Speaker 1: for Dolly at theaustralian.com.au. Vaccination, literacy and lifting children out
Speaker 1: of poverty were her philanthropic passions, and Dolly Parton's Imagination
Speaker 1: Library program, inspired by her father's lifelong struggle with illiteracy,
Speaker 1: has mailed millions of books to children around the world,
Speaker 1: free of charge for decades. She also donated a million
Speaker 1: dollars to the Vanderbilt University Medical Centre in the early
Speaker 1: days of the COVID pandemic, accelerating development of the Moderna
Speaker 1: mRNA vaccine. Dolly Parton was married to her famously camera-shy
Speaker 1: late husband, Carl Dean, for almost five decades. He died
Speaker 1: last year, aged 82. Virginia Bell, the Royal Commissioner tasked
Speaker 1: with finding solutions to Australia's antisemitism crisis and answering how
Speaker 1: the Bondi Beach massacre could possibly have occurred, is asking
Speaker 1: for more time to hand down her official report to
Speaker 1: avoid overshadowing the December 14 first anniversary of the mass murders.
Speaker 1: The former High Court Justice was due to hand down
Speaker 1: her findings from the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social
Speaker 1: Cohesion on December 14, but said delivering the report on
Speaker 1: the anniversary of the massacre in which 15 people were killed,
Speaker 1: would be a distraction. Bell will hand her findings to
Speaker 1: the Governor-General on December 18, but parts of the report
Speaker 1: relating to the massacre will be withheld to avoid prejudicing
Speaker 1: the trial of accused gunman Naveed Akram. He's pleaded not guilty.
Speaker 1: The Royal Commission's public hearings concluded early on Wednesday, despite
Speaker 1: calls from Jewish and former military leaders and the Federal
Speaker 1: Coalition to extend it. Check out those stories live right
Speaker 1: now at theaustralian.com.au and come back to the front first
Speaker 1: thing in the morning for our look at the royal
Speaker 1: backflip by the UK's prodigal son and ask what's really
Speaker 1: driving Prince Harry's return to the UK with his young family.
Speaker 1: That's right here Thursday morning.