Dolly Parton has always been quite the catch. Teenage boys, middle-aged men, and even elderly grandfathers have seemingly had a crush on Dolly Parton. However, the most notable man to have a crush on Parton was her fellow musician and tourmate, Merle Haggard.
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Haggard never divulged this news in a profound love letter or grand gesture. Rather, Haggard’s wife, Bonnie Owens, let Dolly Parton know about Haggard’s crush at a formal gathering. Even though Haggard had quite the crush on Parton, Dolly never reciprocated the feeling. In her book, Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life In Lyrics, Parton admitted that she had “honestly never thought about him romantically.”
“We were just buddies, as far as I was concerned,” Parton continued. “He reminded me of my brother Denver, so I really related to him.”
Regardless, the story of how Parton discovered this fact is quite frankly the worst possible way one could find out this type of news. Just imagine somebody’s wife coming up to you and telling you that their husband is in love with you. It can’t get worse, can it? Well, that is exactly what happened to Parton.
What Was Said in the Interaction Between Dolly Parton and Bonnie Owens?
In her book, Parton recalled the interaction between her and Bonnie.
“Later, at a BMI banquet, Merle’s wife, Bonnie, said to me, ‘Well, you know Merle’s in love with you,’” she wrote in the book. “‘Well, I love him, too.’”
Platonic and friendly love is not what Owens was alluding to, as Parton recalled.
“She said, ‘I’m not talking about that, I’m talking about real love,’” Parton recalled in her memoir. “Well, I can’t help what he feels. I love him to death, but there’s nothing going on between us, and there never was.”
Parton concluded by stating that she was “honored and flattered” that Haggard had a crush, but she was also “sorry if it caused any problem.”
It seemingly didn’t cause any problems, as Haggard and Parton went on to have a professional and platonic relationship, and up until Haggard died in 2016, the two remained great friends. As a matter of fact, in that same book, Parton carved out a little section for Haggard and wrote that “he is one of the greatest songwriters and one of the greatest singers, ever.”
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