Before the curtain came down on Dolly Parton’s extraordinary life at August’s end, sparking a river of global tears, the Queen of Country had been just weeks away from cutting the ribbon on her brand-new museum and 245-room hotel in Nashville.
If the singer’s first major tourism venture, her East Tennessee theme park Dollywood, which opened in 1986, remains a love letter to the Smoky Mountain region that raised her, then her last – The SongTeller Hotel, which houses the 20,000-square-feet Life of Many Colors Museum on its third floor, is a parting gift to the city that made her.
Four years of work – and £96million – have sprinkled some serious Dolly magic on this corner of Downtown, transforming a once unremarkable office block into a pink-and-white maximalist temple to the country music megastar – the exterior alone features a 20-foot-high guitar and a vast shimmering rainbow mural.
The location bears all the hallmarks of Dolly’s famous business nous. A rhinestone’s throw from Lower Broadway, Nashville’s neon-lit ‘Honky Tonk Highway’, it’s just far back enough to ensure the nightly guitar-picking doesn’t disturb guests’ sleep.
‘This property wasn’t for sale but Dolly kind of made it for sale…’ SongTeller marketing exec Brittany Fryman tells me. ‘She sort of said: “I want that building, now go figure it out!”.’
While most of the tenants were happy to two-step out of town for a Nashville icon, one dragged their heels – meaning 60 of the rooms won’t be ready until spring/summer 2027.
Shining on: The SongTeller Hotel, which also includes the Life of Many Colors Museum about Dolly Parton’s life, opened on September 29th, just a month after the Queen of Country died of cancer at the age of 80
Hello Dolly: Holographic technology means remarkably realistic footage recorded by Dolly Parton in March appears througout the visitor journey at the new Life of Colours Museum
Dolly takes fans at the museum on a tour through one of the most flamboyant wardrobes in music history, with everything from her wigs to her heels and stage outfits on display (Source: Life of Many Colors Museum)
Fryman says there’s been an avalanche of fans wanting to make a pilgrimage to the hotel since the news of her death, from cancer at the age of 80, first broke.
I’ll admit I’m one of them – but wondered whether it was the right time to cross the Atlantic and visit an attraction that’s still reeling from the loss of its namesake.
In the lift that glides up to the museum, there’s definitely an air of hushed reverence. Sensing the awkward quiet, a cheery guide quickly breaks the reflective mood though: ‘You’re about to step inside the pinkest room you’ve ever been in!’.
It’s the key change we need and suddenly we’re unleashed on a magical 90-minute deep-dive into a legacy that, thanks to state-of-the-art museum technology, makes it feel like Dolly is very much along for the ride.
In footage recorded in March, the late star narrates throughout, popping up in full holographic technicolour from picture frames, retro TV screens, a cinema box office; Dolly’s still telling her own story, her own way.
There’s a replica of the humble Appalachian childhood cabin she shared with 11 siblings, clips of her fresh-faced 1967 TV debut alongside Porter Wagoner, whose star she would eclipse, and so many sartorial highlights – towering heels, wigs, sequins! – from one of music history’s most flamboyant wardrobes.
And there’s exhibits never-seen-before, including Dolly Parton’s wedding dress, unearthed just two years ago in a trunk from Carl Dean’s time in the National Guard. The bridal gown, worn by Dolly in 1966, was made by her mother
The SongTeller Hotel pays tribute to the musician and philanthropist’s extrordinary life
Drinks-and-dinner venue Parton’s Live will entertain new and established country music stars as well as songwriting sessions and sits on the second floor of the building
There are previously unseen exhibits to thrill die-hard fans too. A playful pop-art take on the ‘Wishy Washy’ Laundrette, where Dolly first met husband Carl Dean, shows her surprisingly simple wedding dress, hand-stitched by her mother in 1966, for the first time – it was found buried in a trunk just two years ago.
The museum’s crescendo experience comes via a mini concert that sees a crystal-clear Dolly singing a medley of her biggest hits, culminating in I Will Always Love You.
‘There’s tissues at the back of the room if you need them’, our guide tells us. We do.
Later, on the hotel’s 11th floor at Jolene’s, a slinky lounge bar with comfy, cerise-hued chairs and views of the city’s Cumberland River, we order £12 ‘Locust Ridge’ cocktails, a bourbon and prosecco concoction named after the tiny mountain community the artist hailed from.
The food? It’s urban small-plate fare, mostly – truffle fries, oysters, big salads – but Dolly’s plea for ‘meat on a stick’ also makes the menu, thanks to some delicious glazed pork belly skewers.
Downstairs, there’s Parton’s Live, an atmospheric music-and-dinner venue where guests can pull up a chair – and maybe pen a song – at a statement table the shape of a giant bejewelled guitar. A nearby café serves up pretty patisserie and the souvenir shop is a blast – who doesn’t need a pink guitar-shaped fish slice?
The ‘Dollyfication’ is dialled down in the rooms but there’s still bags of unique character, as well as pristine, cloud-like beds.
One UK fan’s ticket stubs, from a lifetime of gigs, helped create the striking murals that appear in some of the rooms; there’s vinyl record players too, and even the hairdryer gets a witty rebrand to ‘wig dryer’.
Providing a backdrop to the hotel is a mural created from a British fan’s ticket stubs – and heart-shaped guitars are also proving a hit with guests
I’m allowed a quick peek inside the Six Sisters Suite, a three double-bed affair with vintage Hollywood-style dressing tables and killer views of the glinting Nashville skyline. Inspired by the bond Dolly shared with her five sisters, it is slumber party heaven.
A cup of ambition – and a gallon of fuel – at Dolly’s service station
Cinnamon bread, a cup of ambition and plenty of Dolly merch is on the menu at the late star’s Cornersville service station, which opened earlier this year
At what would be her final public appearance in June, Dolly launched her very own service station serving up classics such as cinnamon bread, brisket and peach cobbler – and gallons of fuel – to weary travellers.
Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop sits on the Pulaski Highway in Cornersville and features a Southern-style restaurant, a BBQ-cafe, live country music and the chance to enjoy a ‘cup of ambition’ coffee.
The themed venue also features photos, merchandise, favourite recipes, rhinestones and guitars.
Dolly told those attending the launch: ‘Who better to own a travel stop than someone that spent their entire life on the road? I’ve been traveling since 1967 just to make my living. And I know every travel stop from coast to coast.’
The other major Nashville zip code on the Dolly Map?
The ‘Mother Church of Country Music’, the Grand Ole Opry, the historical music venue that helped make the singer’s name.
Dolly first got on stage at the original Opry venue, the Ryman Auditorium, in 1959 at the age of 13, introduced by Johnny Cash.
Since 1974, the Grand Ole Opry House has been a 20-minute drive out to Opry Mills but is still the spiritual home of country music – and hosts a cracking night out if you’re in town.
Around £45 will buy you access to one of the still-live Opry radio shows…featuring a roster of established and new stars.
To really live and breathe Dolly’s journey though, you need to make the pilgrimage to the corner of Southern Appalachia the star grew up in, 215 miles east.
Winding through the foothills of the Smoky Mountains to Locust Ridge, her childhood home, offers a glimpse into just how rustic Dolly’s early life was.
The lands the musician and actress wandered as a child remain largely untouched by modern life.
Fiercely protective of her childhood, Dolly literally ring-fenced the remote land around the cabin she once shared with her six brothers and five sisters, and parents Avie and Robert Lee, by buying the land and diverting fans’ attention 12 miles west to Dollywood.
Today, there is nothing around her former childhood home but a greying wooden security fence – but the journey to does paint a picture of just how far Dolly travelled from those early years. She also ring-fenced the local cemetery, with the headstones of her family members protected from curious fans.
The other major Parton landmark that’s a must-see for fans is Sevierville, the city – which feels more like a town, that gave her a first paid opportunity on stage as a ten-year-old, at The Pines Theater in 1956.
Sevierville honours its most famous daughter with a bronze statue on the lawn of the historic 1896 Sevier County Courthouse.
On a blue-sky October morning, two months after Dolly’s death, there’s a steady stream of tourists still coming to photograph the statue, which has stood on this spot since 1987 and was crafted by local artist Jim Gray.
In Sevierville, the East Tennessee city that gave Dolly Parton her first paid gig at the age of 10, a bronze statue – erected in 1987 and currently surrounded by floral tributes, stands in her honour
The country-style fairground at Dollywood; the park has plenty of high-octane thrills and spills via its rollercoasters, but is also a serene place to wander around – with plenty of older visitors taking day trips to the Pigeon Forge attraction
‘Dolly felt like family to us,’ Mark Ailey, who runs Off the Chain Bicycles on nearby Bruce Street, tells me. ‘My son won a $15,000 scholarship to go to college thanks to her foundation that supports young people in Sevier County.’
The quiet philanthropist invested millions in the area right until her death, with Dollywood – and the adjacent Dollywood’s Splash Country water park – creating vital jobs in East Tennessee and employing plenty of Partons at the same time.
Dolly may have given the world some much-loved music, but she also created the world’s prettiest theme park.
Dollywood re-writes the rulebook on what this type of attraction should look like.
There’s plenty of nerve-shredding thrills and spills, from Big Bear Mountain to Wild Eagle and Thunderhead, but Dollywood also pays homage to the heritage of this atmospheric portion of the US south.
There’s Southern homestyle cooking aplenty including ham, hand-breaded fried chicken and cornbread at the likes of Aunt Granny’s Restaurant and Granny Ogle’s Ham ‘n’ Beans plus a working blacksmiths, craft stalls galore, a chapel and a traditional country fair.
The demographic at Dollywood is easily the most diverse of any theme park anywhere in the world; for every toddler or teen, there’s a silver-haired grandparent enjoying the shopping, the food and the beautiful backdrop.
And just like the SongTeller Hotel – and its fascinating Life of Colors Museum, it’s a tribute to the Queen of Country music that feels pitch-perfect.
