Jelly Roll Honours Dolly Parton on Jimmy Kimmel Live: "She Might Be the Last American That Everyone Liked"
Jelly Roll paid tribute to Dolly Parton during his second night as guest host of ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live, calling the 80-year-old Tennessee icon "the last American that everyone liked" Billboard.
The country rapper, whose real name is Jason DeFord, has been filling in as a guest host on the late-night programme. During his 26 August monologue segment, he spoke about Parton's career and what she has meant to his home state, his family and to music more broadly Billboard.
"She was infinitely talented. She was relentlessly funny. And adored by all," Jelly Roll told the studio audience, according to Rolling Stone Australia's social media account Rolling Stone Australia.
The numbers behind Parton's career give the tribute its weight. She has written more than 3,000 songs across a career spanning over 60 years. She placed 113 songs on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart — the publication's core country singles ranking — starting in 1967. Her charted hits cumulatively spent more than 28 years on that chart Billboard.
Parton is a member of both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, one of the few performers honoured by both institutions Billboard.
Jelly Roll's admiration for Parton is not new. In a November 2023 Instagram post, he expressed gratitude to Parton for what she had done for his family, for music and for Tennessee — the state they share Instagram.
Both artists trace their roots to Tennessee. Parton was born in Locust Ridge, in the Smoky Mountains. Jelly Roll grew up in Antioch, a neighbourhood of Nashville. That shared geography gave his Kimmel tribute a personal edge rather than a ceremonial one.
What gives the moment its resonance is the contrast between the two performers. Parton built a six-decade career on songwriting craft and a public persona that transcended genre boundaries. Jelly Roll arrived at country stardom through hip-hop, mixtapes and a personal story that includes time in prison before mainstream breakthrough. Different paths, same state, same stage — and a guest-host slot that let one Tennessee artist pay respects to another on national television.
