As part of our latest cover story with Dolly Parton, Paramore’s Hayley Williams shares a personal introduction to her interview with the iconic artist. Read the full cover story here, and enjoy Williams’ insights below. You can also read a Letter from the Editors about what it was like putting this unique story together.
I know Dolly Parton the way most everyone does: through her songs, her witty one-liners, and her philanthropy. She’s universally loved and she’s endlessly inspiring. In doing my deeper research for a conversation with Dolly about her foray into rock music, I was repeatedly led back to one central theme: Actions > Words.
Growing up in the scene my band Paramore came from, you couldn’t just “talk the talk.” For a teenage frontwoman, the pressure to “walk the walk,” whatever that even meant back then, felt even greater. As I got older, I learned I could lend my voice to causes both myself and the band believed in, including but not limited to the sexism in our genre. While there are countless injustices to speak out against and so many causes to lend your voice to these days, I can’t help but notice I’m increasingly frustrated at the potential meaninglessness of some words. Mine included. These days, you can simply re-share an infographic or a helpful link and log off. Activism accomplished.
It feels important to admit, however, that while devouring countless interviews and think pieces on Dolly’s decades long reign in the music industry, I found myself wishing she was more pointed in her words about certain topics, namely Trump. It would’ve been cool, I thought, to see her condemn hateful rhetoric, general ignorance, etc. Me and my righteous rage, needing some moral validation from this unicorn person I look up to.
I guess I was expecting the same thing that a lot of fans want from their favorite artists: to be our personal mouthpiece. After sitting with her for an hour or so, talking about things both on and off the record, I realized, she only ever speaks love. Like, really.
As for her actions? Well, you can Google a career’s worth of them for yourself. It doesn’t take much digging to understand the ferocious heart for justice — and goodness — she possesses. I left our time together feeling inspired, if not a little convicted. Sure, maybe Dolly doesn’t get up on stages and say things like, “If you vote for Ron DeSantis, you’re dead to me” (whoops), but she’s been carefully wielding her influence to catalyze real, tangible change since before I was a thought.
Is one way better than the other, though? Is it possible to be a rockstar in 2023 if the fuel in your tank isn’t a little rage-flavored? After spending time with The Iron Butterfly herself, I think my answers to questions like these are evolving.
As we trudge headfirst into another brutal election year, navigate living in a country that’s funding not one but two horrific wars, and descend further into dehumanization… maybe the question I should ask myself is just, “What the fuck would Dolly do?!”
— Hayley Williams of Paramore
