Dolly Parton's career in country music spans decades. She recalls the greats she knew as if it was yesterday that she met them. One of them was certainly the late Patsy Cline. Cline helped define the genre and although she died years ago, is still looked upon as a formidable pillar of the country music scene. Parton remembers her in circumstances that she found unforgettable and achingly poignant. It was in the wings at the hallowed Grand Ole Opry.
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Dolly Parton Has Vivid, Sad Memories Of Patsy Cline
Per The Tennessean, Parton related her thoughts about seeing Cline at the Opry. The "Crazy" singer had recovered from a terrible car accident at the time. "I remember standing in the wings watching all these incredible artists, people with big names, the biggest people. You know, from Hank Snow, Webb Pierce, you see I go back. All the way back."
Parton added, "I remember seeing Patsy Cline. I was young, and it was after she had had a car wreck and she'd gotten scarred up. And I remember as a child thinking there was this really big deep scar between her eyebrows. I remember seeing her before she had that, and I remember thinking about how awful that was that she got her pretty face scarred up like that. It didn't hurt her singing any. But I just felt sorry and sad just thinking about her nearly getting killed in a wreck and how she wound up dying anyway."
She concluded, "I just remember looking at her and seeing that and then her walking to the microphone and her starting to sing and then nothing else registered besides her God-given voice."
What Happened To Cline?
Cline was badly hurt in a car crash on June 14, 1961. She sustained facial scars among other injuries and endured "chronic pain," per pbs.org. "Six weeks after the accident, still on crutches, she appeared on the Grand Ol' Opry's stage to perform her biggest hit yet: Crazy." It is unclear if this was the performance that Dolly Parton talked about.
Ironically, Cline survived that accident only to perish in a tragic plane crash in 1963. She was only 30 years old. We will never know what she might have gone on to acomplish.
