Adrian Barich: Dolly Parton was the superstar who somehow made the world feel kinder

There’s a lot of people I wish I’d had the chance to really get to know.

Like that dinner-party discussion, Three Famous Dinner Guests, I’d be inviting Dolly Parton because she seems like one of those rare people who could walk into any room in the world and make everybody feel better about being there.

Alongside her I might have a fella with the initials JC, and probably Weary Dunlop. But that’s a story for another time.

Back to Dolly. I did wonder whether I should write about her, given she probably isn’t the first person people would expect to see in Being Barra.

Then I bumped into Dave my local The Big Issue seller on Rokeby Road and he was listening to Jolene, so I thought that’ll do me. My Seven colleague Angela Tsun is also a huge Dolly fan, so much so that one of her dogs is actually named Dolly.

Yes Dolly Parton was one of those unique beings that somehow was universally loved.

I read she is the only superstar in the history of entertainment to have a 100 per cent approval rating.

In this cynical, sometimes cruel world, that is quite an achievement don’t you think.

She began her career singing Dumb Blonde, stood barely five feet tall, came from a desperately poor family in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and ended up becoming one of the biggest entertainers in the world.

And somehow, despite all her fame and fortune, she never seemed to become impressed with herself. That’s what Australians loved about her most I reckon.

She was incredibly successful without ever seeming like she needed you to know how successful she was.

She’s sold more than 100 million records, wrote some of this planet’s most recognisable songs, created a global literacy program and yet she still had the personality of the favourite auntie who’d send you home with a plate of sandwiches.

And she was always in on the joke, mostly about herself. Her hair, her clothes, her make-up, her famous figure.

She knew exactly what people were thinking and was perfectly happy to play along.