Dolly Parton Recalls Hilarious Johnny Cash Comeback About His Wife June Carter’s Chattiness

His decades-long career was proof enough that Johnny Cash had a mesmerizing way with words, but a hilarious anecdote from Dolly Parton shows that Cash was just as well-spoken off the stage. During a December 2024 appearance on Bunnie Xo’s Dumb Blonde podcast, Parton recalled her friendship with Cash and his wife, June Carter Cash. Although Parton first met Cash as a young girl with a crush, she eventually became a contemporary, colleague, and close friend of the Cash family.

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That friendship is what tipped Parton off to how funny—and similar to her own husband, Carl Dean—the stoic “Man in Black” really was.

Dolly Parton Recalls Hilarious Johnny Cash Comeback

As Johnny Cash was making his fast ascent to fame, Dolly Parton was still trying to hitch a ride on the star-maker machinery. Cash was 14 years Parton’s senior, which meant her relationship with the iconic singer started like countless other girls and women across the country: a one-sided crush. But as Parton grew into her own in the music industry, she began crossing paths with Cash in professional settings. Eventually, Cash, his wife, June Carter Cash, and Parton became close friends.

While visiting Bunnie Xo’s Dumb Blonde podcast, Parton described the Man in Black as a “real nice guy” and “very quiet.” “I became best friends with June and Johnny,” she said. “As the years went by, you know, we would visit, and we liked each other a lot. [June] was a loudmouth like me, so we got along just fine. And Johnny, I remember when somebody said something about, ‘Johnny, don’t you get tired of hearing June talk all the time?’”

“He said, ‘No, I do some of my best thinking when June’s talking,’” Parton continued with a laugh. The “9 to 5” singer compared Cash’s response to his wife’s chattiness to her own husband, Carl Dean. “[Johnny was] like my husband. I think he does some of his best thinking when I’m talking.”

The Man In Black Had The Aspiring Country Singer At “Hello”

Years before Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash became musical contemporaries, and even longer before she became close friends with Cash and his second wife, June Carter Cash, Parton was a lovesick mega-fan. “I had the biggest crush on him,” Parton told Bunnie Xo. “He had so much magnetism, and I was young. I was just beginning to feel those hormones, you know, to where you feel those things.”

“He had all that, you know, movement,” Parton continued, imitating Cash’s snarl and shoulder dips. “I found out later it’s because he was coming off drugs. It was just twitches what I thought was magnetism. But there was some truth in that. For years and years, I told him he was my first crush, and he was. So, in my Broadway musical, I cover that—about Johnny touching me on the shoulder. It just changed my life, you know.”

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