Tributes to the late Dolly Parton are pouring in across Windsor, where the country music icon left a lasting impression on fans and the local music community. Almost 10 years ago to the day, Parton took the stage at Caesars Windsor, where her image is still a fixture on the building’s billboard. At Dr. Disc Records in Downtown Windsor, requests for Parton’s music are still frequent. “People come in all the time asking for [Dolly Parton] CDs and vinyls,” said Anthony Di Fazio, who works at the shop. An 11-time Grammy Award winner, Parton sold over 100 million records, with hits like “I Will Always Love You” and “Jolene.” “We carry new and used, so we try to carry all of her stuff new, but it sells pretty quick,” Di Fazio said of the demand. Known for her presence behind the microphone and her ability to pen thousands of songs, Parton’s impact in the music industry transcended generations. “It’s just like classics, the classic country songs that, like everyone grew up on usually, or like songs they just say they’ve heard from, like, their parents and stuff like that. So it’s kind of a nostalgic thing for a lot of people,” Di Fazio said. On Tuesday, Parton’s family shared that the longtime artist had died at the age of 80 years old. For Dan MacDonald, the afternoon drive host of 89X, Parton was first introduced to him as a kid, when digging through his parents’ records. “I don’t know if I can think of another artist in any genre of music who was as universally loved as Dolly Parton. I know she was country. That’s a very niche genre, but she transcended musical genre,” he told CTV News. Outside of her time on the charts and her appearances on screen, Parton gained a reputation as a philanthropist. Rising from one of 12 children in a small Tennessee cabin, Parton used her fame and fortune to give back through literacy programs and charitable donations. “She was very, very authentic. Like she did her philanthropy work very quietly. She didn’t often broadcast. She wouldn’t bring in the cameras, but she would go into schools and help kids learn how to read,” MacDonald said. When asked about lessons people can take away from Parton’s influence, MacDonald pointed to her approach to life. “Dolly just lived her life. Dolly didn’t tell anybody how to live. She didn’t judge anybody. She was inclusive without being preachy. Just do you. I will do me,” he said. “She was a true individual who could laugh at herself. She never took herself too seriously. She didn’t pretend to have the answers to everything; she just wanted to be kind.”
