Dolly Parton.Photo: Dave J Hogan/Getty
Dolly Partonis allowing fans to experience a uniquely personal slice of her life on the road.
The country music legend has turned her long-time tour bus into an overnight rental filled with jewel-toned fabrics, sparkly guitars, towering heels, and hand-painted murals.
Known asSuite 1986, the 45-foot motorhome sleeps two people and is currently parked at the Dollywood DreamMore Resort & Spa in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Curtis Hilbun/Dollywood
“(I) decided to retire it because I wasn’t touring that much anymore and it just was sitting there, and I thought this could be put to really good use,” Parton recently toldKnox Newsabout the tour bus, which she often referred to as her “Gypsy Wagon.”
Yet a stay in Parton’s musical haven doesn’t come cheap. Prices for a two-night visit start at $10,000, with a portion of the profits being donated toThe Dollywood Foundation, a book gifting program that mails high-quality reads to more than a million children around the world each month.
“I have homes all over the United States, but my favorite place is the bus because that way I can just feel those wheels rolling,” Parton says of the ride on the Dollywood website, which notes that she created the tour bus to be a home-from-home because of her dislike of flying.
“I’m a true gypsy at heart,” she added.
Parton’s charity work doesn’t end with her book program. Earlier this month theVanderbilt University Medical Centerin Nashville announced that the artist donated $1 million towards pediatric infectious disease research.
“No child should ever have to suffer,” Parton said in a press release of her reason for donating. “I’m willing to do my part to try and keep as many of them as I can as healthy and safe as possible.”
The funding will help advance Vanderbilt’s leading studies on the causes of disease, understanding resistance to antibiotics, and preventing and treating infections in children with cancer. Parton’s niece, Hannah Dennison, was successfully treated for leukemia as a child at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt Pediatric Cancer Program.
“Dolly’s previous support to infectious disease research, and also our pediatric cancer program, has already saved countless lives,” said Dr. Jeff Balser, president, and CEO of Vanderbilt University Medical Center and dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Wednesday’s press release. “This new gift will bolster our defenses against future threats to the safety of this region and society as a whole.”
source: people.com
