On This Date in Country Music History: Dolly Parton Conquered Glastonbury

On this date in 2014, a sixty-eight-year-old woman from a one-room cabin in the Tennessee Smoky Mountains walked out onto the Pyramid Stage at England's Glastonbury Festival and proceeded to win over one of the most unpredictable crowds in the world.

Glastonbury is not a country music festival. It is the birthplace of British rock culture, a muddy field in Somerset where legends like The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, and Jay-Z have headlined. When Dolly Parton was announced as a headliner for the Sunday slot in 2014, the reaction in Britain was a mix of curiosity and skepticism. Country music was not exactly Glastonbury's native language.

Dolly herself was not sure it would work. "I was scared to death to do that show," she later told Pollstar. "I didn't think that was really my audience because I do a lot of talking, I do a lot of songs that tell stories and I know they love to go to have a big time!"

She adapted. Before the set, she told reporters she had decided to focus on her more upbeat songs. "I thought, well, I can't do a bunch of sad, slow songs because everybody is drunk and high and we don't want to bring them down that bad," she said with characteristic Dolly wit. She played "Jolene," "9 to 5," and "Coat of Many Colors" and kept the energy moving from the first note to the last.

Then there was the rap. Glastonbury is famously muddy, and the 2014 edition was no exception. On the morning of her performance, Dolly sat down and wrote an original rap about the conditions on the ground and performed it live for the crowd. The festival organizer was floored.

"Oh, Dolly was the biggest crowd I've ever seen here," Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis said afterward. "She is just a truly amazing live performer. Her voice was incredible. And she wrote that song about mud in the morning before the show. I don't think you can beat that performance as a perfect moment here at Glastonbury."

The biggest crowd in Glastonbury history. For a country music legend. At a rock festival. In England.

"They were so respectful and it was such a huge success," Dolly said. "So many people came, that I was really adored and felt honored and emotional about that whole thing. You do remember things that stand out like that."

Twelve years later, that performance still stands as one of the most remarkable crossover moments in country music history. Nobody else could have pulled it off quite like Dolly. Watch Dolly’s video biography for much more on her amazing life and career.