Dolly Parton reveals her childhood revolved around “God, music and food”

Dolly Parton recently talked to her sister about her childhood, Rachel Parton Georgeabout her new cookbook.

The country music legend revealed that her childhood life revolved around her faith, food and music. Parton combines cooking with songwriting, noting that her best songs often come while she's cooking.

Her next album, “Dolly Parton & Family: Smoky Mountain DNA,” will be released on November 15, 2024, and includes a collaboration on the track “I Will Know.”

Dolly Parton talks about her childhood

During an interview with All recipesParton and her younger sister George gave an insight into their upbringing.

The inspiration behind her cookbook, Good Lookin' Cookin, revolves around the three aspects that have shaped her family life.

“God, music and food were the three big things in our family,” Parton explained via Fox News.

The cookbook full of southern recipes also contains heartwarming memories from her childhood. For the “Jolene” singer, the flavors of her homeland are closely linked to her mother's cooking.

“I think home tastes like mom,” she reflected. “I think you always associate those childhood memories with certain childhood dishes that you love and the people who make them for you.”

She added: “I cook more like mum – a handful of this, a handful of that. Rachel is also very creative but she wants to make sure it tastes good too – she's not as sloppy as me.”

Dolly Parton combines culinary and musical creativity in her new cookbook “Good Lookin' Cookin'”

Parton said that her passion for cooking and music have always been closely linked.

“It's just about being creative, like writing a song,” she said. “Some of my best songs have come to me while I'm cooking my best food, and vice versa. The better I write, the better I cook.”

Parton and George's upcoming cookbook includes recipes for Hot Wing Dip, the family favorite Meatloaf, Slaw of Many Colors, Light My Fire Banana Foster and Fried Chicken and Gravy.

When asked which of her songs she associated with her hot wing dip, Parton chose “Jolene.” She explained, “Oh, something spicy – like our hot wing dip. This woman was just hungry for my husband. It's not in the cookbook, but it's in the song.”

Dolly Parton’s album “Smoky Mountain DNA” celebrates family heritage and Appalachian culture

Parton’s upcoming album, “Dolly Parton & Family: Smoky Mountain DNA – Family, Faith & Fables,” is scheduled for release on November 15, 2024, three months after it was first announced.

This album traces the musical heritage of the Parton family, from their roots in the United Kingdom in the 17th century to their current home in the Great Smoky Mountains of eastern Tennessee.

It features a collaboration between Parton and her youngest sister George on the track “I Will Know.”

The song was originally written as an acoustic demo by Parton George and Patricia Roberts four decades ago and rearranged for this release to highlight the voices of both sisters.

A press release said: “These recordings honor not only the musical heritage, but also the deep family ties and cultural traditions that shaped their lives. With this release, audiences will discover the precious heritage preserved and reflected in the music and living culture of Appalachia.”

The country star announces Broadway show and musical

In June, Parton announced plans to bring her show “Hello, I'm Dolly” to Broadway, featuring new songs alongside her classic hits. She is also involved in creating a musical based on her life, set to open on Broadway in 2026.

“I wrote a lot of my own songs for the show and included all your favorite songs in it too. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll clap, you'll stomp, it really is a grand old opera. Pun and fun intended,” she said via Fox News.

Parton's music was heard on Broadway as early as 2009, for example in the adaptation of “9 to 5” and with her song “With Bells On” in the 1993 Christmas special “Candles, Snow & Mistletoe”.

Parton has become a national icon since her breakthrough on “The Porter Wagoner Show” in 1967. She has won multiple Grammy awards, written books and donated $1 million to coronavirus research.

Dolly Parton talks about meeting her husband Carl Dean

Parton has been married to Carl Thomas Dean for 57 years, which suggests that the two were together before she became famous and topping the charts around the world.

In her documentary “Dolly Parton: In Her Own Words,” the singer told everything about her meeting with him.

she said, “When I moved to Nashville in 1964, I was just washing dirty laundry because I was in such a hurry to move to Nashville from my home in East Tennessee, which was 200 miles away.”

“I had never been to a laundromat before. I walked outside and there was this handsome man driving by the laundromat. And he pulled over to the side of the road. So we started talking and got married two years later,” Parton added.