Three years ago, when the Queen of Country took to the stage for a halftime performance at the AT&T Stadium, little did she know she was about to leave the Cowboys with the experience of a lifetime, one that Jerry Jones ranked higher than any of his Super Bowl wins.
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That’s why, when Jones found out Dolly Parton passed away on August 25 after a private battle with cancer, he made a tribute to the music legend. When he spoke to the media at The Star, Jones emphasized her impact beyond music.
“She [Dolly] transcended being a great entertainer to a wonderful person, and she’s a role model to all of us,” Jones said. “We’re so thrilled that we got to have her here for our Thanksgiving Day kickoff. [I will] never forget her giving a million dollars to the Salvation Army when she came out here to kick off the National Red Kettle Campaign.”
For Jerry Jones, Parton was far more than a legendary singer with dozens of hit records and multiple Grammy awards. In the 1960s, his parents lived in Springfield, Missouri. Jones has practically witnessed Dolly Parton’s rise from a country singer to the top of the globe’s music pyramid.
“Truly one of the great role models of our country. So, we’re all going to miss Dolly, but thank goodness we’ve got a lot of memories and all the everything she left behind. Her songs and her work. So we’ll get to all remember what a great person [she was],” Jerry Jones expressed his tribute to Dolly to the reporters in Frisco.
Parton had always been known for her philanthropy, whether it was making contributions to HIV research or providing children with books. That’s where she found common ground with Jones.
In the last three decades, the team has partnered with the Salvation Army for the Red Kettle Kickoff, a halftime performance. The team had tried to bring Parton in as part of the lineup for a long time, but 2023 was when it all came together.
Despite her ever-busy schedule, everything finally clicked in May 2023 at the ACM Awards inside The Star in Frisco for Dolly Parton. Cowboys Chief Brand Officer Charlotte Jones pitched Parton backstage, timing the appearance with her new Rockstar album release. And for Parton, it was a special moment.
Her husband had been a fan of the Dallas Cowboys, but for the Queen of Country, the opportunity was a chance to show that Parton would always be present for the causes she believed in. Until that moment, the oldest people to perform in a halftime show were the likes of Mike Jagger, who was in his 60s.
Yet, Parton wasn’t fazed. “I thought, if I can, if I could pull this off, that’d be a cool little thing to do. I thought most people would excuse me if it didn’t turn out. I thought, they’re just like us, some older woman making a bad mistake. Or I thought, well, maybe it’ll just be something cool to do.”
When Thanksgiving rolled around, Parton took to the stage during halftime, wearing a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader outfit. That six-minute medley of her biggest hits had 41.7 million viewers, turning it into the NFL’s most-watched regular broadcast of the season.
When the performance was over, Jones knew he had witnessed something incredible. So much so that after the performance was done, Jones said, “‘I don’t know that I’ve had a day like this. And I’ll include them all, I’ll put Super Bowls in there, I don’t know if I’ve ever had a better day with the Cowboys than today,” Jones said after Parton’s performance.
And Jones wasn’t alone. CBS play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz celebrated Parton on-air as an “American Treasure.” Meanwhile, former Cowboys QB Tony Romo just couldn’t stop talking about Dolly Parton’s performance
Three years later, as fans come to terms with Parton’s passing, tributes are coming in from Dallas. The franchise posted a tribute to Parton on social media, but there was a bigger gesture that came from the city of Dallas itself, as the downtown skyline turned pink in her honor.
As we look back at Parton’s life, it wasn’t just one spent as the Queen of Country, but a life spent helping people across the world. May she rest in peace.