Dolly Parton: Journey Of A Seeker

By the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum staff

Dolly Parton: Journey of a Seeker is the title of an extensive exhibition that opened May 20, 2025, at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee. It is also the title of this companion book, which was created by the staff of the museum and published by The Country Music Foundation Press to advertise the exhibition. Dolly collaborated on both projects.

Open until September 2026, the exhibition covers Dolly’s more than 60-year career and the obstacles surmounted on her way to becoming one of the most beloved and widely recognized musical celebrities in the world. She is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. She has also received the National Medal of Arts and the Kennedy Center Honors.

The colorful 10×10-inch book displays photos of items in the exhibition, such as handwritten lyrics, stage wear, show posters, instruments, and awards. Her key ring from the 1960s is among them. Readability is often sacrificed for color, with light-orange captions and white-on-pink chapter text. A chapter titled “All Her Colors” shows various gowns on mannequins, next to original sketches of the designs. Gowns are scattered throughout the pages.

Some of the 80 pages highlight Dolly’s quotes and show her sense of humor, such as: “We always made a joke that me and my uncle had real bad sinus trouble when we went to Nashville. We went to every label in town, and nobody would sign…us.”

Interspersed throughout the book are photos of Dolly during major events of her life, beginning with the impoverished little girl in east Tennessee who dreamed of being a singing star. The “Hey, Porter” chapter reflects her tough decision to postpone her solo career in favor of gaining national recognition by being Porter Wagoner’s duet partner. In the next chapter, “Songteller,” she forges ahead on her own. One quote states, “I always said that my desire to do something has been greater than my fear of it. And that’s how I like to live today.”

Her “desire to do something” comes across in the chapters devoted to her 9 to 5 movie and to songs such as “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors,” and “I Will Always Love You.” Most chapters are two-to-four pages long. The chapter on “Parton Family DNA” discusses an album she made to honor her musical Parton and Owens relatives. Strangely, there is no mention in the book of her husband, Carl Dean, to whom she was married from 1966 until his death earlier this year. He played a major behind-the-scenes supporting role in her life.

A full-page photo of Dolly in her tour bus in 1979 opens the book. The closing photo shows her kicking her leg high in a Nashville park in 1975. She says, “I have always been a seeker in every way. My spiritual life, my professional life, my personal life. I’m always looking. I’m always trying to find another mountain to climb.”

Dolly Parton: Journey of a Seeker is filled with the glitz and color one would expect of Dolly herself. It’s for browsing and enjoying, not for deep research on her life It’s an excellent tease to encourage people to visit the exhibition in Nashville.