Walt Disney Television/Paula Lobo; ABC/Image Group LALady Antebellum has a Saturday night date with Dolly Parton. They’re among the artists performing in the two sold-out shows celebrating the icon’s 50th year on the Grand Ole Opry.
As you might imagine, they love Dolly just as much as everyone else.
“She has ventured so far out of what you could say is country music, but never departed from it,” Hillary Scott points out. “But I just love that she is still her. She has not wavered.
“She is one of the best songwriters of all time,” Charles Kelley adds, “[She’s] such a chameleon, and has been in so many different facets of the business.”
“From an entrepreneurial standpoint, too, I mean, she’s just the quintessential woman BOSS of our genre,” Charles says. “She kind of set the bar high for everybody. Reba [McEntire] I’m sure looked and learned from watching Dolly.”
Charles confesses he’s also a tiny bit jealous of Dolly.
“Every single one agrees that, like, you gotta love Bruce Springsteen. You gotta love Willie Nelson. You gotta love Dolly. That’s very rare. And I’m not gonna lie. I’m a little envious of that. Everyone thinks she’s cool and that’s… hard to do,” he admits.
Just like everybody else, Lady A’s excited to have their moment with Dolly.
“I think we’ve met her briefly one time,” Hillary explains, “so I can’t wait to really, hopefully get a second to just hug her neck and tell her how honored we are to be there.”
Earlier this week, Lady A performed the majority of their new album for an invitation-only crowd at Third & Lindsley in Nashville. Their set included their latest hit, “What If I Never Get Over You,” and as-yet-unreleased tracks like “You Can Do You.”
The full Ocean album arrives November 15.
Copyright © 2019, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
