GLASTONBURY, ENGLAND - JUNE 29: Dolly Parton performs on the Pyramid stage during day three of the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton on June 29, 2014 in Glastonbury, England. Tickets to the event, which is now in its 44th year, sold out in minutes even before any of the headline acts had been confirmed. The festival, which started in 1970 when several hundred hippies paid £1, now attracts more than 175,000 people. (Photo by Jim Dyson/Getty Images)
Dolly Parton has politely declined Tennessee lawmakers’ offer to erect a statue in her honor on the state Capitol’s grounds.
“I want to thank the Tennessee legislature for their consideration of a bill to erect a statue of me on the Capitol grounds,” she said on social media on Thursday. “I am honored and humbled by their intention but I have asked the leaders of the state legislature to remove the bill from any and all consideration.”
Talk of a statue honoring the beloved country singer blew up after a petition to replace Confederate statues with her likeness went viral over the summer.
The change.org petition, which has been signed by over 25,000 people reads, “Tennessee is littered with statues memorializing confederate officers. History should not be forgotten, but we need not glamorize those who do not deserve our praise. Instead, let us honor a true Tennessee hero, Dolly Parton.”
But, Tennessee Rep. Jeremy Faison (R) had first introduced the idea to replace the bust of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forest with Parton in 2019, and last month another representative, Rep. John Mark Windle (D) introduced an official bill to erect a statue of the singer on state capitol grounds.
In response, Parton wrote that this is not the time to put up a statue of her. “Given all that is going on in the world, I don’t think putting me on a pedestal is appropriate at this time,” she said. “I hope, though, that somewhere down the road several years from now or perhaps after I’m gone if you still feel I deserve it, then I’m certain I will stand proud in our great State Capitol as a grateful Tennessean.”
Rep. Faison said that although the bill is still on the table as of Friday, the legislature would most likely honor Parton’s wishes and get rid of it. Faison, like a lot of Parton’s fans, said he only respects her more for her decision.
“In the meantime,” Parton said, signing off on her statement, “I’ll continue to try to do good work to make this great state proud.”
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