Dolly Parton won’t axe her forthcoming North Carolina show for the anti-LGBT "bathroom law".
The ‘Jolene’ hitmaker – who brings her ‘Pure and Simple’ tour to Greensboro Coliseum Complex on June 3 – thinks that personally she can "serve better" from being on stage rather than protesting about the new legislation called the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, which decides which toilet a transgender person can use.
In an interview with Paper magazine, she said: "I do not to intend to cancel any of my shows. I think I’d serve better from the stage. Everyone knows that I have an open and generous heart, and I think all people should be treated with respect. I don’t like to be caught up with controversial issues. I can address whatever my thoughts are from the stage in that format."
And as for what fans can expect on her first extensive tour in 25 years, the 70-year-old country music legend says it will be a "scaled down" performance with gospel and folk sections.
She explained: "We’ll be doing the gospel thing and having our corny jokes. I’ll tell a lot of stories as we go. We have a folk song section we’ll do. As far as the band, it’s just the four of us on stage: Richard Dennison, Tom Rutledge and Ken Wells. We just kind of swap all different instruments. It’s scaled down. We don’t have a bunch of loud music or videos going on in the background. It’s pretty much just us."
And for those hoping to see Katy Perry or Taylor Swift make a guest appearance, Dolly hasn’t planned on it but she wouldn’t turn them down if they came along.
Asked if she will have the ‘Roar’ singer along, after they duetted at the Academy Of Country Music Awards earlier this month, she said: "Not that I know of … but if they should show up, I bet you I wouldn’t refuse them. They’ve got a lot of fans. I really appreciate what they do, but we don’t have any of that planned."
Dolly Parton won’t pull North Carolina show for bathroom law
