'God Needed a New Singer in the Choir'

Margo O'Donnell remembers Dolly Parton

Irish country music singer Margo O’Donnell has paid an emotional tribute to her friend Dolly Parton, remembering a woman whose generosity, humanity and extraordinary talent placed her “in a league of her own”.

The Donegal-born singer, who has made Castleblayney her home, shared a friendship with Dolly spanning more than 20 years. They met through Dolly’s maternal Uncle Lewis (also known as Louis Owens), who had discovered O’Donnell’s early recordings and believed the two women shared remarkably similar backgrounds. Their friendship later developed into musical collaborations and many years of shared memories.

But for O’Donnell, Dolly was never simply a global superstar: “She was an absolute living legend,” she recalls. “Nobody will ever make the impact that Dolly has made.”

O’Donnell remembers hearing that sentiment echoed at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, where Dolly occupies a unique place among country music’s greatest names. There they would say, “and then there’s Dolly.”

The point, she said, was that Dolly could not simply be placed alongside other greats: “She was in a league of her own really, as a person as well.”

O’Donnell also reflected on Dolly’s remarkable longevity, drawing a comparison with another towering figure of popular music: “Elvis wasn’t as old as her when he died, if he had lived to her age ...”

For O’Donnell, however, Dolly’s greatest legacy may not be found in her records, awards or worldwide fame, but in what the global singing

superstar gave away. She fondly remembers Dolly’s commitment to children’s literacy, a strong passioninspired by her father, who could neither read nor write. O’Donnell recalled spending time with him in East Tennessee and hearing how Dolly had promised she would do something to make free books more readily available to children: “And she did,” O’Donnell said. “She sent them all over the world.”

Dolly could have accumulated far greater personal wealth, her friend believes, but chose instead to use her success to help others: “She chose not to be [a billionaire]. She gave her money away.”

The friendship between the two singers had its roots in music. Before they met, O’Donnell had already recorded Dolly’s 'Mamma, Say a Special Prayer', on the B-side of a 1972 single. When they eventually spoke about the song, they discovered a poignant connection.

Dolly told O’Donnell she had written it while in Nashville because she missed her mother: “And I was in Dublin and I missed mine,” Margo told Dolly: “So I recorded it too.”

Their relationship grew through O’Donnell’s visits to Nashville and Dollywood, where she would sing with the Parton family at their front-porch theatre: “I would always get up and sing with them, you know, for the fun,” she recalled. Then, one day, Dolly arrived: “We met up and then we recorded together, spent time together.”

Margo is heartbroken by the loss of her friend — but finds comfort in knowing that Dolly would never have wanted to spend her final years unable to live life to the full: “Dolly was always on. She was always doing something,” she said. “She wouldn’t want to be stuck in a corner and not able to get about.”

And in one of the most touching moments of her tribute, she offered a simple explanation: “I think God needed a new singer in the choir.”

Margo will miss Dolly terribly, but above everything else, she said: “I want the people out there to remember that she always loved them.”

For Margo O’Donnell, that may ultimately be Dolly Parton’s greatest legacy: not merely that she was one of the greatest singers and songwriters of her generation, writing I Will Always Love You and Jolene on the very same day, but that she used her extraordinary success to make other people’s lives better.

Although Margo stressed that friendship was more personal than professional, God's Colouring Book is a single they lent their vocal talents to, penned by Dolly, Margo was delighted to record the duet. It was released in 1997 by Music Box Records.

This beautiful song, reflecting their shared faith in a higher power, also featured on the album Margo and Friends.