Paul McCartney Still Remembers The First Time He Met 'Very Vivacious' Dolly Parton

Paul McCartney and Dolly Parton are both musical legends in their own right, and the duo's first meeting was a memorable one. In fact, McCartney was a little star-struck by Nashville's biggest country star when he met Parton in 1974. The former Beatle and his band, Wings, were in town for some shows, and it was there that he ran into the "9 to 5" hitmaker as she performed alongside Porter Wagoner. "She was very young and very sort of innocent, very sweet," McCartney recalled of his first impression in a June 2026 interview with Far Out magazine. "She was very vivacious and full of bubbly joy, like she still is." 

Parton, of course, was familiar with him, and the two became fast friends. One would think, given their mutual admiration for each other, that Parton and McCartney would have collaborated on a song as soon as possible. Alas, it took almost 50 years. In 2023, they recorded the Beatles' classic "Let it Be" together, roping in McCartney's former bandmate Ringo Starr too. "I've always loved that song. I recorded the song without them and then I thought, 'Wow. Wouldn't it be great if Paul McCartney would agree to play piano and sing on it?!' And then I thought 'wouldn't it even be greater to have Ringo Starr — because that's the last of The Beatles — play on that track?" the country icon told Absolute Radio in 2023. 

Parton went about asking McCartney and Starr in a pretty old-fashioned way. "I just sent them a love note through their managers, and I just said what I was doing," she explained to NPR. Despite being the living legend that she is, the "Jolene" hitmaker admitted she was "very humbled" when both Beatles responded with an eager yes.

All artists have to retire eventually, right? Well, not if Dolly Parton and Paul McCartney have anything to say about it. McCartney addressed possibly leaving music behind in a 2026 interview with NME, and he seemingly hinted that he doesn't think your 80s are a reasonable decade to even consider it. "I don't know. I never know, y'know?" the former Beatle reasoned of leaving his career behind. He added that the thrill of songwriting is as strong now as it was when he first got started, enthusing, "That still is a magic feeling for me. I think that's the creative buzz still, and hopefully always will be." Dolly Parton, despite having shared "good news and a little bad news" about her health in a candid 2026 video, is also determined to keep performing.

During a 2023 appearance on "Greatest Hits Radio," she mused about the privilege of getting to live her dream life, and how she believes that, with that privilege, comes the responsibility to keep going. "I'm not one to sit around doing nothing — I would never retire," Parton promised. "I'll hopefully drop dead in the middle of a song on stage some day, and hopefully one I've written." The country star conceded that the only two things that would force her to retire were if her beloved husband's health deteriorated or her own declined to such an extent that she could no longer take the stage. Of course, the Grammy winner's husband, Carl Dean, died in 2025, but his death didn't mean the end of her career. As it stands, Parton really is going to perform until her dying breath, and it seems that she and McCartney have this in common.