The music industry is a much smaller world than many outsiders would believe, and Dolly Parton’s surprising lifelong connection to Kesha is a testament to that fact. Indeed, years before Parton would become Miley Cyrus’s godmother, she was forging a connection with the family of a different future pop star: Kesha Rose Sebert.
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Parton’s connection to Kesha started seven years before the singer was born and has continued throughout her career.
The Surprising Connection Between Dolly Parton and Kesha
Dolly Parton’s connection to Kesha began with Pebe Sebert, Kesha’s mother. Sebert is an accomplished musician and songwriter who has written No. 1 songs for many artists since the late 1970s. In 1978, she and her then-husband Hugh Moffatt wrote “Old Flames Can’t Hold a Candle to You” for country singer Joe Sun. Sun’s version of the song received relative success, hitting a modest No. 14 on the U.S. charts in 1978.
However, Parton would elevate the track to a new level of acclaim when she recorded her version two years later, in 1980. Parton’s version, which she included on her album ‘Dolly, Dolly, Dolly,’ skyrocketed to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Seven years after Sebert’s song topped the charts, she gave birth to her daughter, Kesha Rose.
While Parton never played a physically present role in Kesha’s life, the young girl certainly felt the musical icon’s influence growing up. In a 2022 interview with Rolling Stone, Kesha recalled hearing her mom occasionally talk about Parton, referring to her as “the queen.”
When Kesha discovered her mother was the creative force behind Parton’s 1980 hit, she said, “I just thought that was the coolest thing in the world. And I still do. Dolly doesn’t seem like a real human to me. It was almost like when you talk about unicorns. I remember as a little kid, it was like she was this fable, like untouchable, unhuman, just bad***.”
How Dolly Parton Continued To Influence Kesha’s Artistic Path
When Kesha was four years old, she and her mother, Pebe Sebert, moved to Nashville so that Sebert could continue her songwriting career. Sebert often brought her daughter to recording and writing sessions, which inevitably fostered the future pop star’s love of music. But Dolly Parton remained a steadfast influence, too. In her 2022 Rolling Stone interview, Kesha said she has always kept Parton in mind while writing.
“I made a rule not to do any music—no matter how successful it could be, no matter how many people would love it—that Dolly Parton wouldn’t f*** with,” Kesha explained. “I don’t ever want to put out any music that Dolly Parton wouldn’t enjoy or listen to, or find some humor in. She’s so much of a guiding light, and she has no idea.”
“At first, I just thought she was fabulous, hilarious, and obviously very, very talented,” she continued. “And now I realize that it’s so much more than that. Her graciousness, her generosity, and the way that she will answer any question with so much respect—but she does not let people ever get one over on her. I always ask myself, ‘What would Dolly Parton do?’”
While she was recording her 2017 release ‘Rainbow,’ Kesha decided to reach out to Parton—whom she’s never met in person—to ask if she would like to collaborate on a version of “Old Flames.” To Kesha’s delight, Parton agreed, further solidifying the connection between three iconic women in music: Pebe, Kesha, and Dolly.
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