Key Takeaways
- Stella Parton called Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s use of Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” at a Tennessee rally “gross” and questioned whether the campaign licensed the song.
- Stella argued that using the working-women’s anthem to promote Blackburn clashes with the senator’s conservative record on women’s rights, reproductive health, and working-class issues.
- The dispute follows Dolly’s death at 80 and her family’s pushback against political uses of her memory and unauthorized AI content.
Stella Parton is not letting her late sister Dolly's signature song pass quietly into campaign season.
Responding to a viral clip of Sen. Marsha Blackburn's rally entrance, Stella wrote, "How gross! Wonder if they licensed the use of my Sista song?"
Stella has spent years criticizing Blackburn over women's rights, reproductive health, and Republican policy, and she has taken those arguments straight to her own feed.
On Sept. 18 she posted on X: "Have you noticed all the MAGA rats trying to jump ship before the midterms? Except Marsha Blackburn and she's in so deep she would get it all over her if she moves an inch."
The song choice is the sorest point. "9 to 5" was written for the 1980 film of the same name as a working-women's anthem about fighting a sexist boss, a message critics say sits badly against Blackburn's conservative legislative record.
Stella made that same irony her argument, framing the walkout as a song about working-class women's rights being used to sell a platform she says fails everyday Tennessee workers.
The fight arrives weeks after Dolly Parton died on Aug. 25 at age 80 and was laid to rest beside her late husband Carl Dean at Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Nashville. Her family has since spoken out against political uses of her memory and unauthorized AI content involving her.
Blackburn had posted her own tribute on X after Dolly's death, calling her a "Tennessee treasure" who "opened doors of opportunity for countless people."
