Ted Nugent has paid tribute to Dolly Parton, recalling the night they met in San Antonio after separate shows.
Ted Nugent has spoken about Dolly Parton hours after her death was announced, describing her as a force and recalling the one evening their paths crossed properly. The guitarist appeared on “Carl Higbie Frontline” on Newsmax on Tuesday, the day Parton died at 80.
“I’ll tell you, Dolly Parton was a force to reckon with. We’ve lost a great, great musical authority, a really down-to-earth, really grounded entrepreneur. She represented the best of the best, and I was lucky to collide with Dolly Parton on the road doing concerts side by side,” he said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
He continued: “We’ve never done a concert together, but I’ll never forget when I was doing a sold-out concert in San Antonio, and she was doing a sold-out concert in San Antonio, and we kind of rendezvoused on the streets that night, eating Mexican food, and she was like a buxomness Ted Nugent. She had a lot of piss and vinegar, a lot of spirit, a lot of attitude, and she’s created a soundtrack through her dreams to be the best that she can be. She’s created a soundtrack for a lot, a lot of people. So God bless Dolly Parton. And we lost Frank Beard from ZZ Top. We’re still mourning Toby Keith and Eddie Van Halen, so we’re losing a lot of musical forces, but their music will be with us forever.”
Regarding Parton‘s philanthropy, Nugent placed it in a wider context of musicians who give.
“And that’s not out of the ordinary. I started a Ted Nugent Kamp For Kids charity 37 years ago. Eddie Van Halen donated to children’s charity. Sammy Hagar‘s got a children foundation. Steven Tyler does incredible donations. So in the music industry, you have a lot of very loving, giving, generous souls, and Dolly Parton, I’m sure, led the way in many ways,” he said.
Nugent added: “I’m a rock and roll guy, and she was country music, and Toby Keith was a dear friend, I guess, some great country buddies. In fact, I’m angry I didn’t write the song ‘Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy‘. But that being as it may, Dolly Parton‘s attitude and her positive energy was just, like I said, a force to reckon with, so we’re gonna miss her. I got to jam with her on the ‘Mike Douglas Show‘ [in 1980]. There’s a video of that somewhere, and what a moment it was. Mike Douglas, Susan Anton, Ted Nugent, Dolly Parton. Now, there’s proof that really good people can get along no matter what their roles in life, right?”
After host Carl Higbie noted that Parton had kept working until she fell ill, Nugent said: “And again, now that work ethic. She was different than you and I, but not really. Had a work ethic, a belief in God, family, country, being the best that you can be, getting up early, being a productive asset for your family, your neighborhood, your fellow man, the American dream and people around the world. And I’ve toured all around the world. And there’s no place on planet Earth that people don’t really smile when you mention the name Dolly Parton, and I think that’ll live on forever.”
He closed by quoting a couplet from his own song “Stranglehold” and saying Parton‘s music was proof of the same idea, that it would be a soundtrack for people who love, for good.
Parton died on Tuesday 25 August at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, with her family around her. She was 80.
The news was officially shared via a statement from her PR firm, True Public Relations, accompanied by a deeply personal video message from her nephew, Bryan Seaver.
Born on January 19, 1946, in a one-room cabin in Locust Ridge, Tennessee, Parton rose from humble Appalachian roots to become one of the most recognized and influential figures in entertainment history. Her big breakthrough came in 1967 when she joined country star Porter Wagoner on his syndicated television series, a partnership that launched her into the spotlight before she transitioned into a massive solo career in 1974.
In the emotional video statement, Seaver revealed that delivering this message was a task Parton had entrusted to him years prior.
“My name is Bryan Seaver, son of Cassie Parton, and I’m representing the Parton and Owens family today announcing the passing of my aunt, Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean, Sister, Sis and Granny to one generation and Gigi to the next,” he said.
“This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality,” Seaver continued. “As her head of security for more than two decades, a role my father Larry held before me, I have imagined the heaviness of this moment but haven’t truly felt it until now.”
“It is an honor, an honor that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness. But sadness lies with us, not with Dolly. Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by Carl, her parents and countless others who have watched her and longed to meet her in the heavens.”
Parton’s career spanned over six decades, leaving an indelible mark on music, film, and philanthropy. Known for timeless classics like “Jolene,” “I Will Always Love You,” and “9 to 5,” her quick wit and signature sparkle masked one of the sharpest songwriting minds in American history. Beyond country music, her generosity reshaped lives around the globe through initiatives like the Imagination Library, which has gifted over 200 million books to children.
Even late in her career, Parton continued to redefine her artistic boundaries. In 2022, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame—an honor she initially tried to decline out of respect for the genre’s origins. True to her character, once inducted, she declared she would earn the title.
That promise resulted in her 49th solo studio album, Rockstar (2023), a star-studded rock record featuring collaborations with iconic musicians including Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Steven Tyler, Elton John, and Stevie Nicks. The album debuted at the top of the Billboard charts, proving that no matter the genre, Parton possessed an innate ability to unite audiences across generations and styles.
