Wednesday, August 26, 2026

Goodbye Dolly

In this day and age where it's hard to find any common ground, TigerBlog is pretty sure there is one thing almost all Americans could agree on. 

Everyone loved Dolly Parton. 

The famed country singer passed away yesterday at the age of 80. The news was startling to TB — and probably to almost everyone when it was first seen. 

If you think that she wasn't as universally beloved as one can be these days, then consider these two headlines: 

"Dolly Parton, Country Music Queen and Humanitarian, Dead at 80."

"Dolly Parton, Beloved Singer and Global Icon, Dead at 80."

The first is from CNN. The second is from Fox News. Since when do they agree on anything? Dolly Parton united them.

Her first album, entitled "Hello I'm Dolly," was released in 1967. She'd record 49 more in nearly 60 years after that debut — and she wrote the often-redone song "I Will Always Love You."

This is from her obituary: 

Referred to as the "Queen of Country", Parton was one of the most-honored female country performers in history and received various accolades, including 11 Grammy Awards and three Emmy Awards, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, including a humanitarian honorary Oscar win in 2025, six Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award. Parton sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling musical artists of all time. 

This was from her family yesterday: 

TigerBlog didn't intend to start today with a Dolly tribute, but it seemed necessary for someone who writes every day. Rest in peace, Dolly.  

As near as TB can tell, Dolly never performed in Princeton. Maybe the closest was a 1982 Triangle Club spoof that included "Five to Nine," a take-off of the movie "Nine to Five." 

Is there a Princeton Athletics segue in there? 

Princeton head men's lacrosse coach Matt Madalon recently came back from a family vacation in Dollywood, located in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. It is annually the most attended tourist attraction in the state. Madalon said the news was "so sad." 

The news of Dolly's passing reached TB when he was at Monmouth yesterday for the field hockey scrimmage. Tiger head coach Carla Tagliente said that she liked Dolly Parton very much, for the movie "Steel Magnolias" as much as for any song. Clem Houlden, one of the Tiger captains, had her mouth drop open at the news while saying that she liked the song "Nine To Five" very much. 

Athletic trainer Lauren Roethlisberger, who yes is a cousin of the former quarterback, was probably the most shaken by the news. She's more than 50 years younger than Parton was, and she also loved her, showing how many generations were touched by Dolly's music and persona. 

The scrimmage did provide TB the chance to break in his new camera, though that does seem an unfortunate word choice. Armed with one 45-minute lesson, TB did his best and did manage to capture a few shots that he liked. 

He got these two, for instance, though neither of them scored a goal:

He also got this one of Ella Cashman, who did score:

TB gives himself a B for his first time shooting with the new camera. He'll have plenty of chances to practice moving forward. And if he can sneak in dog pictures, so much the better. 

The scrimmage itself was a good first look at the team that went to double overtime in the NCAA final a year ago. As TB watched it on the hot summer turf at Monmouth, he thought that it was a long way from there to Louisville, the site of this season's Final Four. 

The preseason Ivy League poll and the national coaches preseason poll were both released yesterday. TB originally was going to write about those, but they'll have to wait until tomorrow. 

For today, it had to be Dolly. Her passing had to touch even the coldest of hearts. 

She was certainly loved.  

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