Reba McEntire has never been shy about standing up for Dolly Parton. And a resurfaced interview from 1996 shows that her loyalty to the country music legend goes back decades.
As American Songwriter recalled on October 16, McEntire was speaking with television host Tom Snyder about her ambitions beyond country music when the conversation took an unexpected turn.
Snyder questioned whether pursuing an acting career might alienate her fans. He then brought up Parton, suggesting that her move into movies and other entertainment projects had cost her some of her country audience.
McEntire wasn’t convinced. “I don’t think Dolly would ever leave country,” she replied with a smile.
Rather than accepting the idea that artists had to choose between music and acting, McEntire explained that branching out could actually help them reach more people.
“What we really want to do is to just enhance, to entertain more,” she said.
She pointed to Parton’s success with 9 to 5 as an example of how a movie and its accompanying music could work together.
“I have no intentions of leaving my music base, my fan base. I just want to gather more into it,” McEntire added.
Five years later, McEntire would make her own successful move into television with Reba, the sitcom that premiered in 2001 and ran for six seasons.
Her friendship with Parton continued long afterward. The two collaborated on a new version of McEntire’s “Does He Love You” in 2021, and Parton had previously appeared as a guest star on Reba.
McEntire also honored Parton at the 2026 Emmy Awards, performing “Appalachian Memories” in memory of her longtime friend, who died in August at 80.
Thirty years later, McEntire’s words still ring true. Neither she nor Parton had to choose between country music and Hollywood. Both went on to become household names across America, proving that staying true to your roots doesn’t mean you can’t reach a much bigger audience.
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