Dolly Parton Hinted Her Relationship With Porter Wagoner Was in Trouble Years Before They Parted Ways

Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner worked together for years and had a close, intense relationship. While Parton denied ever having an affair with him, they certainly argued like an old married couple. Details of their stormy relationship came to light after they parted ways, but Parton hinted at trouble several years before this. Here’s what she had to say.

Dolly Parton hinted at problems in her relationship with Porter Wagoner

While Parton began diligently pursuing music in childhood, joining The Porter Wagoner Show gave her career a jump start.

“I think it’s important to my career because if it hadn’t been for him I may have still been struggling along and trying to get in the business,” she said in 1971, per the book Dolly on Dolly. “But he was good enough and saw far enough to where he thought I had something going, that I could be worked into something.”

Though she appreciated what he did for her career, she admitted they clashed often.

“Porter is a great person to work with,” she said. “Of course it’s not always smooth sailing because we’re both so much alike and I have my own ideas about things and it’s just natural for him to think I don’t really know what’s going on and I feel like I do and sometimes we have conflict over that and get into heated arguments but that’s just part of it — at least I’m smart enough to now he’s the boss and he’s been at it longer than me, but I still have to present my ideas and if I have to I’ll argue about them.”

Parton’s rush of words gave insight into why she would eventually leave Wagoner. She wanted control of her solo career and as long as she was with him, she wouldn’t get it. She left his show in 1974 and later dropped him as her producer.