When it comes to her gay and lesbian fans, Dolly Parton sees herself as more than just a superstar.
The country songstress, 70, told The Guardian in a July 12 interview that she feels “more like a family member or an aunt or an older sister or a friend” to her devoted LGBT following.
“I’ve often said people don’t come to see me to see me, they come to see me to see them,” Parton said. “I’ve fought for the right to be myself, so that is one of the reasons that the gays and lesbians relate to me. They know that I appreciate everybody for who they are. We are who we are, so why can’t we be allowed to be that?”
In June, Parton kicked off her Pure & Simple Tour, playing to ecstatic crowds in Philadelphia, Boston and New York, among other U.S. cities. The show’s set list features a number of new tunes from her forthcoming album, also titled “Pure & Simple,” which is slated for an Aug. 19 release.
In her Guardian interview, the singer-songwriter discussed another, much-rumored musical project: a dance album. Though Parton confirmed that the hotly-anticipated record is very much in the works, she also warned fans not to hold their breath for its release.
“Every time I start to work on that, something else comes up, like this big tour. I’ll have to put that dance album on the shelf again,” she said. “But one day I promise you I will get that out.”
Once the album is released, she said, her LGBT fans can expect a musical tribute of sorts.
“One of the songs is ‘I’m a Wee Bit Gay.’ It’s a fun, tongue-in-cheek type of song,” she said. “I promise I’ll get it out.”
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