08/26/2026
We love Dolly Parton.
Dolly Parton, the country music icon whose career spanned more than six decades, has died at 80, and there's more to her connection to Jewish tradition and culture than many people might know.
“Coat of Many Colors,” one of her most beloved songs, was inspired by the biblical story of Joseph and his coat of many colors — and by Parton’s own childhood. In her memoir, she recalled how her mother told her the story of Joseph to help her see the special meaning in the coat she had sewn for her.
Parton also had a significant Jewish connection in her professional life. Sandy Gallin, the Brooklyn-born Jewish talent agent who helped guide her from country stardom to mainstream success, became one of her closest friends and collaborators. He helped convince her to record “Here You Come Again,” her first Top 10 pop hit, and later worked with her on projects including Dollywood.
As Parton once put it of Gallin: “Nobody could quite get how the Christian Southern girl and the New York Jewish boy could have so much in common. But it was real.”
And Parton’s philanthropy has had a direct influence on Jewish life. Her Imagination Library, which provides free books to children, inspired Harold Grinspoon’s PJ Library, which sends Jewish-themed books to young readers.
