5-Year-Old Singer Blows Audience Away With Performance Of Dolly Parton Song

Apr 13, 2021 by apost team

There are not many singers/songwriters as applauded and accomplished as Dolly Parton. With a career spanning nearly six decades and including memorable roles in films, Parton has become as Americana as, well, the country music she has sung during her life. Maybe this is why she has caught the eye (or ears) of a young 5-year-old superfan who performed her song “Jolene” on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in Nov. 2020. The prodigy, 5-year-old Violet Burdick, accompanied by her father, Ryan Burdick on guitar, spoke to the morning talk show host about her love for Parton. 

The interview began with a simple question from DeGeneres about why young Violet loves Parton. She answered that she loves the country star “because she has a beautiful voice and gives books to kids in need.” While the first part of the answer would be understandable to fans of her music, the second part tells the story of the more philanthropic side of Parton.

You see, Violet receives books from Parton’s charity, “Dolly’s Imagination Library.” As her father explains, families who live in low-income school districts qualify for the program and receive free books every month. The books come with Dolly’s face on the back cover, leading Violet to take more of an interest in the queen of country music. Burdick, a musician in his own right, took to his daughter’s interest and began playing Parton’s songs on his guitar for her. This began the love affair between the toddler and the elder country star.

In an interview with Oprah Magazine that same month, Parton explained to the former morning talk show host why her relationship with her father, who supported her and her 11 siblings growing up, became the catalyst for the “Imagination Library.”

"Daddy never had a chance to go to school, so he could never read or write,” Parton explained. “Daddy was a very smart man … but he was ashamed that he couldn't read or write. That bothered him. He felt like he couldn't learn after he was grown. I remember thinking, 'I need to do something."

Dolly Parton’s father assisted his daughter in building the program in Tennessee before it expanded throughout the U.S. and into Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. While he has passed away since then, Parton says her father’s spirit remains a part of the “Imagination Library.”

“I always know he's up there somewhere thinking, 'You go girl. You done good.'"

As Violet’s interview continued, she showed off her knowledge of her favorite singer/songwriter/librarian. Violet told the story behind one of Parton’s most famous songs, “Coat of Many Colors,” which Parton herself talked about to ScreenSlam.com. 

Growing up on the lower economic spectrum, the Partons had to scrap and make their own clothes at times. Dolly’s mother, Avie Lee Owens, made her daughter a coat made from scraps she had received from neighbors who would ask her to make quilt tops and other objects for. In order to show her daughter how pretty the coat was, she told her the story of Joseph from the Bible and his coat of many colors. 

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Excited about the story, the young Parton went to school the next day with the coat, only to be teased by her classmates over the coat of different colored scraps. In the song, Parton does not understand why her schoolmates were laughing at her, as her outfit was made with love by her mother. She said in the interview that she was proud that the song has been used by the anti-bullying campaign, saying that “it is more of a philosophy and an attitude than a song.”

Young Violet went on to explain what another one of Parton’s famous songs was about, “Jolene.” To the laughter of the audience, Violet explained that the song was about a woman named Jolene who “wanted to take Dolly’s man.” The song, according to NPR, was one of Parton’s first hits and she said in a 2008 interview with the radio network that one of its strengths is its simplicity. 

“It's a great chord progression — people love that 'Jolene' lick,” Parton said. “It's as much a part of the song almost as the song. And because it's just the same word over and over, even a first-grader or a baby can sing, 'Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene.' It's like, how hard can that be?"

Even a decade prior, Parton knew that someone as young as Violet could sing the song, which Violet, in turn, did for Ellen and the audience with her father backing her on guitar. The father-daughter duo is not alone in their love for the song, however. 

Artists from Olivia Newton-John to The White Stripes and Parton’s god-daughter, Miley Cyrus, have given their own takes on the classic song, with different musical genres backing them. Aside from Whitney Houston’s cover of “I Will Always Love You,” there is not a Parton song as well-covered as “Jolene.” Jack White of the White Stripes had this to say about his love for the song.

“I love the name, first off. I thought that was an interesting name when I started hearing that song as a teenager,” White explained in an interview with NPR. “And I guess later on, as a songwriter, I started to think about names starting with 'J,' like that could be used almost accusatory, like Jezebel... Jolene."

Still, there has not been a more adorable version of the song than that of Violet and her father. While sitting on the couch belting out the words, you can hear her father, at the end of each line during moments of pause, give his daughter the first word of the next line to help her remember. At the end of their performance, the crowd and Ellen erupted in applause and surprised the Parton superfan with a paid vacation to Dollywood, Parton’s popular amusement park in Tennessee. This has to be the perfect gift for any fan of Parton. 

Violet’s story illustrates that despite age differences, great art and the power of music can transcend anyone. It also shows the reach of those like Parton who uses their wealth to assist those, who like herself, comes from a wooden spoon instead of a silver spoon. 

What is your favorite song from Dolly Parton? What is your favorite cover of “Jolene?” Let us know your thoughts and be sure to ask your loved ones their thoughts as well!