Dolly Parton thinks talent is only one-third of what it takes to become a successful musician.
The 76-year-old icon was asked on the ‘Headliners’ podcast to divide “talent, fearlessness, and shamelessness” into percentages of how much a performer needs to achieve success.
Dolly explained: “I’m going to have to say a third, a third, a third … You gotta have a backbone. You gotta keep your heart, you gotta keep your soul.
“I’ve often said I’ve never hardened my heart – I just try to toughen the muscles around it. You have to learn to be strong without becoming harsh or hard. I try to never let anybody or anything get to my true heart or get to my true soul.”
The ‘Jolene’ singer has made many sacrifices in order to achieve fame and success. But Dolly has always refused to compromise her morals and values.
The chart-topping star said: “I’ve sacrificed a great deal, and I was always willing to do that, but I only sacrificed to a point. I would never – I have never compromised to the degree that I lost my integrity, my beliefs, my faith, any of that … I would walk away, I’d never go past that point.”
Dolly also thinks it’s important to never fear failure.
She confessed: “There’s always a certain amount of doubt, a certain amount of fear, but you have to just go ‘what’s the worst that could happen?’ You’re just gonna fail, you’re not gonna die.
“I always think, ‘What if I don’t make it? What if I didn’t make it?’ Well, I’d just do something else that I love. I’d be a beautician or I’d be a missionary or I’d do something else.”