Remember When: Dolly Parton Made Johnny Cash Blush on TV

It’s hard to imagine anything that could make Johnny Cash, the famously stoic Man in Black and penitentiary performer, blush on television—but Dolly Parton got pretty darn close. As the first person to introduce Parton to the Grand Ole Opry stage in 1959, Cash has orbited the “Jolene” singer’s career since its onset.

According to Parton, Cash introduced her to more than just the Grand Ole Opry.

How Dolly Parton Made Johnny Cash Blush on TV

Johnny Cash visited Ralph Emery: On the Record in 1997, and during his visit, show host Emery decided to play Cash a clip of Dolly Parton talking about the “Folsom Prison Blues” singer in a previous episode. The clip starts with Parton describing how Cash was the artist who introduced her to the Grand Ole Opry stage in 1959 when she was only 13 years old.

“Johnny, the first time I saw him, that’s when I really—that’s when he was lean and lanky—and that’s when I first realized what sex appeal was,” Parton laughed. “It was like, ‘Oh! Holy moly, what is this?’ First, I had seen him on stage, and I had all these feelings which, now I know, is just being horny.”

At the mention of Parton’s not-so-subtle feelings for the country star 14 years her senior, the camera panned back to a visibly surprised Cash. With a quick roll of his eyes, Cash’s mouth twitched in a smile as he darted his gaze from Emery to the studio audience. His head began to bobble a bit, almost unsure of how to react—certainly a stark contrast from his usual stoic demeanor.

From A One-Sided Crush to Colleagues and Friends

Johnny Cash was with his first wife (and 27 years old) when a still-teenage Dolly Parton first laid eyes on him. And while the two never had a romantic relationship, they did develop a personal and professional friendship over the years. When Ralph Emery asked Cash what he thought about Parton’s story, he responded with a tactful answer that even his second wife, June Carter Cash, likely appreciated: “That was nice of her.”

As flustered as Johnny Cash appeared on Emery’s show, Parton’s affections for the country star were no surprise to Johnny or June. “I told him that,” Parton told The Tennessean. “I told June, too. We always laughed about it. Seeing him on that stage that night, it paralyzed me. I still see that to this day, just us talking about it. I see that as plain as I was sitting there looking at him. That’s how big an impression it made on me.”

In hindsight, Parton couldn’t help but laugh at what her 13-year-old self found attractive when she first saw Cash perform. “He was just doped up the way he was moving, all that charisma and stuff, moving his shoulders and wiggling around. It was sexy to me. I guess it could have been withdrawals.” Nevertheless, it was an important moment in Parton’s life. “I’d kissed and had little sweethearts, but I had never been moved like that.”

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