Does Dolly Parton Have Children

Dolly Parton Hopes to Leave Good in Every Day

On the heels of her latest album release, Better Day , Dolly Parton is embarking on an international trek for her Better Day world tour. Kicking off her journey July 17 in Knoxville, Tenn., near her hometown, she will make 12 stops in the U.S. before heading to Europe to perform in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden and Ireland. She will end her tour in Australia, her first time to perform there in 30 years.

But before hitting the road, Parton stopped by CMT's offices for a one-on-one interview. In the second portion of her conversation with CMT .com, the iconic singer-songwriter shares details about her upcoming performances, her chosen path in life and the prayer she says each day.

Are there any songs in your career you are particularly proud of that didn't reach as huge of a commercial success as you thought they would?

Dolly: Oh, some of the biggest. My favorites are songs that never really made any success. They're in albums, but it doesn't mean that they won't [succeed] someday whether I'm dead or alive. But a lot of my favorites are just songs in albums. Some have even found their way to the surface just being recorded. Like "Down From Dover" is a song that I wrote in one of my early albums. I just love that song. And when I wrote it I thought, "Wow, I just love writing songs." But yeah, some of my favorites like "Gypsy, Joe and Me," which was also "Gypsy, Rose and Me" for a man, but Gypsy Joe. So, yeah, there's tons of them.

Do you feel as though your approach to songwriting has changed through the years?

No, my approach to songwriting hasn't changed. There are outlets for my songwriting that I didn't have back then, so I can kind of become more commercial with it. Like, for instance, when I was asked to do the musical for 9 to 5 , I had never done a musical, didn't know if I could work under somebody's direction telling me what to write or what they needed here and there, but I love a challenge. And sometimes if I know somebody's expecting something from me, I do my best work. (laughs) 'Cause I don't want to appear to not know what I'm doing, and because I'm a skilled songwriter, I've been doing that for so many years, it's like my wits are always sharpened because I'm always writing.

So I realized that I was better at that than I thought I was going to be because I was prepared and didn't know it. You know what I mean?

Alisha Robinson: 100 Things ... I'll never forget from my ...

Playing hide and seek with my siblings and cousin Kenny in the hay. Stealing eggs from mother hens and hatching them so the babies would follow us around. Learning how to ride my bike. Riding bikes with my younger brother. Getting babysat by our cousin Kenny. He always brought the best movie and bought us all kinds of candy! Getting the baby sister I desperately wanted when I was five. Riding my horse for the first time. Eating Kraft Dinner at our babysitters, Donna's house ... she always made the best KD. Giving my Baby Alive to my brother's friends so it would pee on them. Playing barbie's with my sister and cousin. Watching Saturday morning Cartoons. Playing in the tree fort my cousin and brother made for us. Going camping with my mom. Thinking I could do anything. Believing WHOLE HEARTEDLY that I could fly. My pets. Spending time in the hospital when I had cancer. Although it wasn't always good some of my best memories are of that time. Finding out my older brother was a match. Getting my transplant. Being told I could go home to stay. Going back to school. My hair growing back. Going to Walt Disney World. Meeting Dolly Parton. Going to Camp Quality, a camp for children who have or had cancer. Meeting my companions, Alison, Andrea, Angie and Meagan. Being a flower girl in my aunt's wedding. Every Christmas. Every Birthday. Watching Dirty Dancing over and over and over and over ... well you get the idea. Picking on my siblings. Making bubble beards in the bath tub. Fishing with my mom. Staying home from school on those "just because" days. Jumping in puddles. Throwing eggs at my brother, with my other brother from the roof of our house. Yeah we were lil buggers. Meeting my cousin who was put up for adoption. Hunting for worms with my brother. Coming home to find my siblings and cousins had made me huge snow sculptures. Getting off the bus and telling the driver I'll be going to grandma's after smelling the home made pie. Spending summers at my grandma's house. The day my grandma died. Ramming the handle bar of my bicycle into my chest and having to carry it, still attached to my house. Yeesh. Cutting my leg on glass sticking out of a garbage bag while I ran to the window to see my mother bringing home my baby sister. Watching Titanic in the movie theatre with my family. My brother cuddled up next to me and told me to wake him up when the boat sank ... he slept through it. My brother saying to me ...

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