Tennessee politician respects the 'Jolene' hitmaker even more after the country music star urged the lawmakers to drop plans to have a statue erected in her honor.
- February 20, 2021
AceShowbiz - A Tennessee congressman has accepted Dolly Parton's wish to not have a statue erected in her honour outside the state Capitol.
Tennessee House of Representatives member John Mark Windle introduced the statue bill last month (Jan21), and the measure passed in the Naming & Designating Committee. It was headed to the State Government Committee for further approval when the "Jolene" singer herself urged lawmakers to drop the idea.
In a statement issued on Thursday (18Feb21), Parton admitted she was flattered, but insisted now is not the right time, "given all that is going on in the world."
Representative Jeremy Faison, who first suggested Parton be honoured in the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville in 2019, reveals the bill is currently still on the table, but he's convinced his colleagues will abide by the country music icon's request and abandon the plan.
He told TMZ he isn't disappointed by the "9 to 5" hitmaker's reasoning for turning down the honour, and admires her even more for her stance.
Instead, he's suggested a statue could be erected in honour of Anne Dallas Dudley, a prominent women's suffrage activist in the early 20th century, who founded the Nashville Equal Suffrage League and successfully helped women obtain the right to vote.
The plan to erect a statue was originally meant to honor Dolly Parton to mark her 75th birthday and all the singer's contributions to her home state, including the Imagination Library, themepark Dollywood, and a recent $1 million (£720,000) donation to Vanderbilt University's COVID-19 research that assisted in the development of the Moderna vaccine.
