Dolly Parton Explains Her Unique Communication Style: Keeping It Old School
In a recent appearance on The View, Dolly Parton shed light on her unconventional method of communication – the fax machine. Parton’s unwavering loyalty to this retro technology has left many wondering why she opts for it in an era dominated by smartphones, emails, and social media.
Dolly candidly shared her perspective with co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin, explaining, “Actually, I don’t want to get into that world,” seemingly alluding to the overwhelming digital age. She added, “I’m surrounded by enough people.”
This preference for faxing has been a long-standing quirk of Dolly’s, known even among her close friends.The country music legend humorously recounted how the late Kenny Rogers used to tease her about it, prompting her to respond, “Look, I’ll send you a message by carrier pigeon if I need to get in touch with you. You always seem to know how to reach me when you want something!”
She elaborated further, saying, So I actually, I never did get into getting involved in all that because it’ll take up too much of my time if I tried to get in touch with everybody who is trying to get in touch with me. So I just say, ‘Fax me! Fax me or call me and I’ll call you back.’”
Dolly’s fondness for faxing has been a source of amusement for those close to her, as revealed by her goddaughter, Miley Cyrus, who spoke about it on The Graham Norton Show in 2021. Miley recalled receiving a fax from Dolly asking to collaborate on a holiday album, highlighting the uniqueness of the situation by saying, “It’s like, ‘I’m sorry, I don’t even know. Half the people watching your show might not even know what a fax machine is!’”
“Every time I coordinate and kind of communicate with Dolly, it’s still through fax. We do use the phone, but she does a fax and then someone scans the fax and then they put it into a text message. And then that gets sent to me, and it’s always signed,” the Wrecking Ball singer revealed further.
Reba McEntire, another dear friend of Dolly’s, also shared her experiences with faxing the country icon. She mentioned faxing Dolly to collaborate on a duet, emphasizing that “You don’t call Dolly, you fax her. You fax your people and your people talk to her people. That’s the only way I know to get ahold of her.”
Dolly’s aversion to modern communication methods extends to email and texting, according to Reba. Even legendary singer Kenny Rogers, a close friend, reportedly did not have Dolly’s phone number, which Reba humorously suggested might have been a strategic choice on his part.
