Throughout her time in the spotlight, Dolly Parton showcased her musical dominance by releasing nearly 50 studio albums. During that same time, she composed more than 3,000 songs, sold over 100 million albums, and brought home 10 Grammy Awards. And that doesn’t include her charitable donations or her business ventures like Dollywood. Recently, the icon hosted Dolly Parton’s Pet Gala, which featured celebrity guests, a dog fashion show, and a beautiful duet from Dolly and Carly Pearce.
Videos by American Songwriter
During Dolly Parton’s Pet Gala, numerous celebrities like Jessica Simpson, Billy Ray Cyrus, Kristen Bell, Kristin Chenoweth, and Neil Patrick Harris teamed up with the music icon to celebrate two of her favorite things – dogs and fashion. Not shying away from performing, co-host Jane Lynch introduced both Dolly and Pearce as they performed one of her most iconic songs “9 to 5.”
Showing Pearce’s journey to standing on stage beside Dolly, Lynch announced, “When I was 16 years old, I was working ‘9 to 5’ collecting beer cans near the railroad track. Then this next performer was 16, she was working ‘9 to 5’ for Dolly Parton as a performer in Smokey Mountain Christmas at Dollywood. And now, 16 years later, she’s here performing ‘9 to 5’ with Dolly Parton. Get ready for some magic, folks!”
From Working For Dolly Parton To Performing With Her
As Lynch mentioned above, before Pearce joined Dolly on the stage, she, like many before her, was nothing more than an aspiring artist from Kentucky. Stepping out of her comfort zone, the singer moved to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee where she landed a performing job at Dollywood. Recalling her experience, Pearce said, “I worked six shows a day, five days a week at Dollywood for two years.”
Overjoyed about getting the opportunity to sing alongside her idol, Pearce celebrated the moment with an Instagram post that featured the two singers and her dog. She captioned the post, writing, “Such an honor to get to sing with one of my absolute idols AND bring Johnny & June along! Peep the last slide to see how excited June was to be in a dress.”
(Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for American Greetings)
