Dolly Parton is already counting the days until Christmas. The 76-year-old country music icon shared recently why she always wants to have a real Christmas tree in her highly decorated home at Christmas.
Christmas is Parton’s time of year, and she is already busy with a lot of holiday projects including the release of her new Christmas album “A Holly Dolly Christmas.” She also has a new film, “Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas.”
When she was asked about being “the new queen of Christmas,” the music legend politely refuted the suggested title.
“Now, don’t you say that! I’m not going to compete with Mariah (Carey),” she said. “I love her. You think of Christmas, you think of Mariah. I’m happy to be second in line to her.”
Here is what Dolly had to say about her stand on a live Christmas tree each year:
“I always want a live tree because Daddy would take us to chop a tree down. He’d look at all the trees and make us pick out the perfect one,” she recalled. “And we’d all want to hold the axe, but he wouldn’t let us because we’d have probably chopped each other to pieces.”
So every year, Parton begins decorating for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving.
“Christmas lights are turned on. The wreaths go up. I have a little chapel on my property; I put a cross on top of that,” she said.
The legend grew up with 11 siblings and still comes to Christmas with childhood wonder. She remembers how her mother always tried to make Christmas extra special:
“Momma was creative, and she understood that she had to tell the right stories. And she had to make it exciting. She could cook anything, and it would taste good, because she would talk about the magic she put in it. She could get you there. Like, she mentally got you there,” she explained.
It’s no wonder Dolly holds on to such heartfelt traditions.
