The late Dolly Parton, whose recent passing has been mourned by people of every walk of life, was not only a great singer and stage performer, but also a member of the amusement community.
The 150-acre Dollywood amusement park she co-owned in the foothills of Tennessee’s Great Smokey Mountains ranks her as an FEC superstar (and put her in the IAAPA Hall of Fame in November 2025). Her park checks off all the boxes – from roller coasters to restaurants to live shows… all of which have garnered awards as the state’s best. Dollywood also offers a chapel and Sunday worship time.
Dolly also starred on one of Bally’s early electronic pinball machines (released in 1979). Pictured above with North Carolina’s late distributor Jon P. Brady and Bally’s Carol Mart-Porth (and Jon’s sons Chris and Jon W.), she spent time with the game’s designers to make sure she looked just right on the backglass, even down to the appearance of her hand.
She famously once told a fan, “Do you know how much it costs to look this cheap?” after donning one of her platinum blonde wigs. One in a million barely describes this American legend. Rest in peace.
