Backstage Country

LISTEN LIVE

Little Big Town’s Dolly Parton Namesake

Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman was so influenced by Dolly Parton growing up, she named her little daughter Dolly (who is four years old now) after the music icon. Kimberly…

Little Big Town's Dolly Parton Namesake
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Little Big Town's Kimberly Schlapman was so influenced by Dolly Parton growing up, she named her little daughter Dolly (who is four years old now) after the music icon.

Kimberly told us, "We all grew up on her music. It was one of those artists that we all played in all our houses. But it was my husband's idea to name her Dolly when we started the adoption process. You know, we were that's back when we were just dreamin' of a baby. And he said, 'If we have a little girl, how about we named her Dolly?' And I was like, 'Oh, yeah, of course.'"

She adds of her own little Dolly, "And her little personality. She's one of a kind. She's so precious and she calls Dolly Parton, my 'Parton.' We get the books in the mail every month from Dolly's Imagination Library and she opens it every time she goes, oh, my 'Parton' send me a book."

Karen Fairchild adds, "Oh, Kimberly might not tell you this -- but I will -- that Dolly Parton is very flattered. It has really meant a lot to her that Kimberly did that. And now I feel like little Dolly and big Dolly, they're gonna be friends."

Kimberly adds, "Dolly Parton said, 'What's your personality? I'm like, oh, boy, it's big. And she said, 'Well, if you ever can't handle or you can send her to me,' But I'm not telling little Dolly that."

Meanwhile, Little Big Town has earned the top spot on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart with their latest release, Nightfall.

Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.