Patty Loveless Gets Choked Up Discussing Dolly Parton While Onstage at the Grand Ole Opry

Patty Loveless is recalling a special memory with Dolly Parton. The country singer took the stage at the Grand Ole Opry on Oct. 17, and took time during her set to flash back to her first experience at the Opry.

“Every time I hit the stage of the Opry, I always get nervous. But, you know, there’s something to that. It’s because this is a holy place to me,” she said. “I remember at the age of 14 when I got to be backstage at the Opry for the first time. It was at the Ryman. I went as a guest of Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton… Dolly and Porter were the best together. Truly.”

At that show, Parton and Wagoner performed “The Pain of Loving You,” a song they wrote and released in 1971. Flash forward more than three decades, and Loveless ended up recording her own version of the track.

“Porter had already passed away. He didn’t get to hear it, but Dolly did,” an emotional Loveless said, before taking a weighty pause as she got choked up. “I got her approval, and it meant a lot to me. I’m going to do my best for her and Porter.”

Patty Loveless and Vince Gill Team Up for a Duet

That wasn’t the only mention of the Parton at the Opry show.

The concert was in recognition of Vince Gill’s 35th anniversary of Opry membership. In a video that looked back on some of Gill’s best moments on the famed stage, a clip of him and Parton was shown, which prompted him to speak about the late legend.

“This next song we’re about to sing for you, I did with Dolly one night as a duet. This is song I recorded with Patty. Patty couldn’t make it and Dolly stepped in and sang with me,” Gill recalled. “We were done and the crowd was going crazy and whatnot. And she looked at me and she goes, ‘I know, I know, I know. I’m no Patty Loveless.’ And then she said, ‘But you ain’t no Porter Wagoner.’”

With that, Gill welcomed Loveless to the stage to sing “My Kind of Woman – My Kind of Man.” They did the song—and Parton—proud with the performance, after which Gill quipped to the crowd, “I still ain’t no Porter Wagoner.”

The night ended with Gill performing his signature song, “Go Rest High on That Mountain.” Loveless, along Ricky Skaggs, Amy Grant, Charlie Worsham, all came back to the stage to sing along with the man of the hour.

Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

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