Merle Haggard Said He Finally Got Over Dolly Parton After a ‘Tension’ Filled Studio Session
Dolly Parton has said she would never date someone in the music industry, but that didn’t stop Merle Haggard from trying. The pair spent time together on a joint tour, and he fell in love with her. Though Parton was married, Haggard pursued her relentlessly. He shared the moment he finally felt he was over her.
Merle Haggard fell hard for Dolly Parton
Haggard and Parton met on a joint tour and became close. While she saw him as a friend, however, he considered her something more.
“I didn’t just fall in love with the image of Dolly Parton,” he wrote in the book Sing Me Back Home: My Story. “Hell, I fell in love with that exceptional human being who lives underneath all that bunch of fluffy hair, fluttery eyelashes, and super boobs. I was like a schoolboy. I would have carved ‘Merle loves Dolly’ on every damn tree in the country if she’d asked me to.”
Haggard eventually came to see this intense crush as embarrassing.
“I don’t know how long I stayed crazy for Dolly, but it was quite a while,” he wrote. “It’s damned embarrassing to talk about it, but if I leave it out I’ll be accused of coverin’ up, and I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be accused of coverin’ up Dolly Parton.”
He said he finally got over her after a day in the studio
When Haggard met another singer, Leona Williams, he also felt drawn to her. While he said he “wasn’t over” Parton yet, Williams intrigued him. He asked Williams to harmonize on a song with him and, while she was on her way over, Parton arrived.
“If heads don’t turn when Dolly comes through a door then you might as well call the undertaker,” he wrote. “If she’s in a room, all attention just naturally turns in her direction.”
Haggard decided to try to show Parton he had moved on with Williams. He admitted he wasn’t subtle about it.
“Then the door behind her opened and in walked Leona. I didn’t try to hide my pleasure at seeing her, and in fact, probably went a little overboard in my greetings to her,” he wrote. “My act was not lost on Dolly. Leona seemed unaware of any tension in the air at first.”
He eventually brought both women outside to get some air. Parton soon decided to leave the awkward session.
“As we walked out into the alley, I could feel Dolly tense up. Leona, who was not sure what was happening, was a little more relaxed. In a few minutes Dolly, who hadn’t had much to say, excused herself, remembering some place she had to be.”
After Parton left, Haggard thanked Williams for setting him “free” from his obsession.
Dolly Parton responded to Merle Haggard’s memories about his crush
When Haggard wrote a second memoir, My House of Memories, his co-author reached out to Parton to ask her what she remembered about Haggard’s love for her. She admitted that she didn’t know it was as serious as it was.
“I didn’t realize it [the crush] was to that extent, or I would’ve probably done something about it,”she said, adding, “I’d at least’ve flirted a little more or something. I’d at least’ve made it worth his while.”
