Ella Langley’s Return to Her Alma Mater Was Already Special—Then She Made It Unforgettable With a Dolly Parton Tribute

Dolly Parton passed away on August 26, and since then, country singers and artists in general have been paying their respects to the icon via song.

At her Auburn, Alabama show, Ella Langley did her own rendition of Parton’s song “Jolene,” a fan favorite about a red-haired beauty who’s coming to take your man.

Parton wrote “Jolene” in part about a red-haired bank clerk who apparently flirted with her husband, Carl Dean. She was also partially inspired by an encounter with a young fan, as she shared with NPR in 2008.

“She had this beautiful red hair, this beautiful skin, these beautiful green eyes, and she was looking up at me, holding [out] for an autograph,” Parton recalled, per Songfacts. ‘I said, ‘Well, you’re the prettiest little thing I ever saw. So what is your name?’ And she said, ‘Jolene.’ And I said, ‘Jolene. Jolene. Jolene. Jolene. That is pretty. That sounds like a song. I’m going to write a song about that.’”

“Tonight’s show didn’t feel right without doing something like this,” Langley told the crowd before singing the song, which has become a beloved classic for Parton fans all around the globe.

Langley Says Parton “Paved the Way for So Many”

On Instagram, Langley had a few words to say about the singer and humanitarian who took country music by storm.

“Dolly, thank you for standing up for yourself as an artist, a songwriter, a musician, a producer, an author, a creative, and most importantly a woman in this industry. You paved the way for so many to be brave,” Langley wrote on her stories following Parton’s passing.

“Thank you for being unafraid to show your most authentic self. The world needed Dolly and will never see another like it. The gates of heaven just welcomed home a beautiful soul.”

Langley is not the only country starlet to meet Parton’s death with words of inspiration and acknowledge her legacy. The “I Will Always Love You” writer was also mourned via socials by the likes of Reba, Kacey Musgraves, Lainey Wilson, Keith Urban, and others.

Photo by: Jason Kempin/Getty Images

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