How the ‘backwoods Barbie’ Dolly Parton turned self-aware artifice into authentic artistry

Pete Still/Redferns/Getty Images Scrolling through the tributes to Dolly Parton this morning – from the Grand Ole Opry, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, queerfluencers and others – I thought to myself: that’s her real name? Yes. The “Queen of Country”, who died overnight aged 80, was born Dolly Rebecca Parton. My surprise at the authenticity of her name says something about the contradiction within the figure of Dolly. A sometime figure of ridicule and satire, the opening image of Dolly – in…