People keep bringing up the book thing, which is awesome, but she also pretty much replaced all government aide to Appalachia when the government essentially abandoned and cut off every social program. She helped people pay rent, put food on the table, afford school for their kids, and made sure those schools had funding.

Dolly has legitimately cared for and done more for the common people than any politician ever even pretends to have done, simply because it was the right thing to and she was able to do it.

Dolly changed a lot of lives for the better. She did the one thing that every other rich person is incapable of, she cared about other people enough to do something about it.

Also, she turned down a place in the rock and roll hall of fame because she, objectively and inarguably one of the greatest and most influential song writers of all time, thought others deserved it far more than her. That’s just rad.

For me? Mostly that she was a caring, compassionate, human and she spearheaded a foundation to give free books to kids. https://imaginationlibrary.com/

I don't particularly like her music either but I've never heard a bad thing about her... But lots of good she did. Which is saying something and I personally find most "famous" people to be shit bags.

Edit : I also love her quote "it costs a lot of money to look this cheap"

Dolly Parton was a major philanthropist, she did a lot of work in children's literacy.

Well, first off, implants were not involved. The lady was known for her chesticles waaay before implants were a thing. She may or may not have had some kind of implants later in life to keep her existing measurements, but they were the same size in the oldest pictures of her as an adult. I don't know about anything later in life, but i do know that boobs like that exist naturally, and that she started with that.

I'm not sure where folks get the idea she had implants when pictures exist like that.

Anyway, it's kind of a tripartite thing. Music, charity/beliefs, and personality.

Musically, she's one of the better songwriters out there. She was on par with, or better than, anyone of her generation for sure. Part of that was her ability to use her real life to make songs that resonated with a lot of people.

Her voice shifted a lot as she aged, but she was well loved for both the sweetness she could use, and her gentle vibrato. A high, almost crystalline tone that managed to never be shrill or piercing because she knew how to be delicate with it. You don't have to like her music to recognize the skill she had with it.

In terms of her public works, she truly believed in doing good. Her book based reading initiative made sure that multiple generations of people grew up not only knowing how to read, but having access to materials that made doing so a normalized and omnipresent thing.

She was an outspoken advocate for "loving thy neighbor". She was one of the celebrities that was behind gay marriage, and equal rights for gay people. That was also the case for trans people.

In other words, she practiced what she preached. She made a ton of money between her music and related business ventures, but she was willing to put it to work doing good things without making it missionary work. She didn't just hand out bibles like some supposed reading initiatives do. Despite having a deep faith, she never pushed it on anyone.

And, importantly, that wasn't just her public face. In her private life, she was well known for doing good acts for their own sake, even when nobody would know about it. But you talk to people from around where she lived and worked, and her generosity is legendary. Again, generosity without strings.

She also was known for having hiring policies with her businesses that were inclusive. Orientation, race, gender, nobody was excluded. And, again, it wasn't just a front, because it wasn't something she made a big deal out of. That was just how things were.

Then it comes down to her. She was a larger than life performer. When she was being DOLLY, she put forward the brighter, flashier side of her self, but in interviews and in person, she was open and honest and nice. She treated people well, and did so with no ego, and a down-to-earth simplicity that often belied how sharp she was. She had an almost self deprecating way of handling being famous, and that's how she really was. She didn't think of herself as being special, she was just grateful to have the chance to do something she loved and was good at.

Now, I never met her. But I know a ton of people that did. And I know a ton of people that had access to books as a kid due to her charity efforts. That's going back decades, and it was not really a well known thing until maybe fifteen years ago or so.

Everything you hear about her from people that knew her, that had regular contact with her, it's all about how damn good she treated everyone.

There's places in Tennessee in specific that when people call her a saint, they aren't just being nice. There's folks that have been touched by her good works and place her on a much higher pedestal than she ever would have. Which kinda sums it all up. She never abandoned being a simple mountain girl, no matter how famous or rich she got, and she lifted others up along the way.

Me? I grew up hearing her music, but didn't really become a fan until well into adulthood. I loved her as an actress, but it took me a while to "get" her music. Now, I can't hear her sing without crying a little.

There are lots of reasons people love her for who she was as a person, from her genuine compassion to her "be true to yourself" attitude. If you're looking for other more tangible positive influences she had on the world, Variety has an article listing a few examples.