Dolly Parton will receive the Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriter's Hall of Fame, to which she was inducted in 2001. She said songwriting is priority number one in her career.
"I would always give up everything before I give up the writing, because it's really my way of expressing myself, and it's just a natural thing and the song just took me everywhere I've been so far," Parton said.
As previously reported, the HOF is awarding Parton because her "body of work is of such
high quality and impact, that it upholds the gold standard set by the
legendary Johnny Mercer." She says her career includes over 3,000 songs. As for how those songs are received, well, Dolly speculates.
"I've had people tell me ... `People would take you so much more serious as a singer and writer if you didn't look like a whore.' I say, it's looking like the whore that's the fun part, and I can't give that up, because it's all part of a package!"
Dolly will be awarded at a dinner in NYC tomorrow night, Thursday, June 7.
