Australia's Prime Minister Remembers the Time He Saved Dolly Parton's Tour
Dolly Parton died in Nashville on Tuesday, 25 August, at the age of 80, and among the tributes pouring in from around the world was a personal recollection from Australia's prime minister, Anthony Albanese — who once cut through red tape to keep her Australian tour on the road.
Albanese posted across his official Facebook, X and Instagram accounts on 26 August, accompanied by a photo of the pair. "Dolly Parton made our world a better place in so many ways, it's hard to imagine the world without her," he wrote. "A singer and songwriter of rare power and talent, she also shone brightly as an actor, author and philanthropist." He urged people to turn up her music, said there are many broken hearts across Australia and the world, and closed with: "May the great Dolly Parton rest in peace." Billboard
The story behind the tribute goes back to 2011, when Parton's Better Day tour — promoted by Michael Chugg and her first Australian tour in decades — ran into trouble before a single note was played. Her tour bus was deemed too long and too wide for Australian roads, threatening to unravel the entire 12-show national trek.
Albanese, then federal transport minister in the Julia Gillard government, intervened. He later said Parton had been on the verge of cancelling the tour before his department gave the bus the go-ahead. PM.gov.au The 12 shows proceeded as planned. Parton returned to Australia in 2014 for six dates on her Blue Smoke World Tour.
Australia's connection to Parton runs deeper than one tour rescue. The city of Melbourne gave her the keys to the city in 1987. The Victorian Trades Hall Council — Victoria's peak body representing trade unions — saluted her following her death, noting that she could have been a billionaire but chose instead to lift up the rest of the world, and that she was a proud union member for over 50 years. Billboard
Australian journalist Mike Munro also resurfaced memories of Parton's death, recalling his notorious 60 Minutes interview with her — a televised clash that became part of the local lore around her visits down under. News.com.au
Billboard has named Parton its top country artist of all time. Her catalogue — from "Jolene" to "9 to 5" to "I Will Always Love You" — spans decades of songwriting, film and television work, and a philanthropic record that includes the Imagination Library, which has distributed hundreds of millions of free books to children.
For a prime minister to lead a national tribute to a foreign entertainer is rare. That this one came with a story about a tour bus, a transport minister and a phone call says something about the mark Parton left on the country — and about how a small act of bureaucratic problem-solving turned into a memory worth sharing.
