DOLLY PARTON, STELLA & FREIDA: A RARE MOMENT WHEN THE PARTON SISTERS SANG THEIR MOUNTAIN ROOTS TOGETHER
Some of the most touching moments in Dolly Parton’s television career came when she stopped being the superstar Dolly Parton and simply became one of the children from that little house in the Smoky Mountains again. That feeling is especially strong in this 1987 performance of “On Top of Old Smoky,” where Dolly is joined by her sisters Stella Parton and Freida Parton. The performance appeared in the seventh episode of Dolly’s 1987 television series, the Thanksgiving-themed “A Tennessee Mountain Thanksgiving,” broadcast on November 8, 1987. Rather than presenting the song as another polished country performance, the segment places the three sisters in front of the Dr. Robert F. Thomas Chapel, surrounded by the landscape and family history that had shaped Dolly from childhood.
“On Top of Old Smoky” carries an unusually deep connection to the musical world in which Dolly grew up. It is an old Appalachian folk song, and for Dolly, mountain music was never simply a style she adopted after becoming successful. It was part of the sound of home. The Parton children grew up surrounded by singing, gospel music and traditional songs, with music woven into ordinary family life. Dolly later became one of country music’s most recognizable figures, but she repeatedly returned to those sounds because they were connected to the people and places that formed her. In this performance, having Stella and Freida beside her makes that connection even more personal. The three voices belong to the same family, and the setting makes the song feel less like a television production and more like a family gathering that happened to be captured by cameras.
There is also something special about Stella and Freida themselves. Stella had already established her own career as a country singer, songwriter and performer, while Freida pursued a different musical path and later became known for her work outside the mainstream country spotlight. Their appearances with Dolly were reminders that the Parton family’s musical story was much larger than one superstar. Freida, in particular, was a musician in her own right, and contemporary music coverage from the early 1980s documented Dolly and Stella contributing vocals to Freida’s work. Years later, the sisters would continue to appear together in different family projects.
What makes the 1987 performance especially poignant is everything surrounding it. The episode itself was built around Dolly returning to her Tennessee roots. She visited the Tennessee Mountain Home where she grew up, talked with her parents Lee and Avie Lee Parton, revisited memories of childhood, and performed several songs connected to that world. She also sang with other members of her family, including her brothers Randy and Floyd, before the sisters came together for “On Top of Old Smoky.” The sequence therefore belongs to a much larger family portrait. Dolly was already an international star by 1987, but the program deliberately brought her back into the landscape that had given her the stories, melodies and emotional vocabulary that would shape her career.
And perhaps that is why the performance feels so different from a conventional television duet. There is no need for a huge arrangement or a spectacular stage production. The power comes from hearing three Parton sisters singing an old mountain song together, in a place deeply connected to their family history. Decades later, Dolly would continue finding ways to preserve those family connections through music. Her 2024 project Smoky Mountain DNA: Family, Faith & Fables brought together numerous members of the Parton and extended family musical circle, including collaborations with Stella and Freida. The family tradition that viewers glimpsed in 1987 had never really disappeared. It simply kept finding new rooms in which to sing.