Dolly Parton remembered as an inspiration to Atlanta performers and LGBTQ+ community
Millions around the world are remembering the life and legacy of country music icon Dolly Parton, including a metro Atlanta band.
Run Katie Run has been performing its Dolly Parton tribute show, "Here I Come Again," since November 2025.
The band's lead singer, Katie Coleman, said the group did not set out to start a Dolly Parton tribute show, but after playing several shows at Dollywood, it made sense.
"We became the go-to people in Atlanta when anybody was doing a tribute to her in any way, and I was always like, 'Yeah, I'd love to. I'd love to learn a Dolly song. Give me an excuse, right?'" Coleman said. "And then it just turned into, 'Why aren't we doing a tribute show to her? Like, I'm the No. 1 fan.'"
In addition to Parton's chart-topping hits, Coleman built the tribute show around trivia and fun facts about the country music legend.
Coleman used Parton's book, "Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics," as a guide to help shape the show.
"You just get to learn a little bit about her and how she wrote the song," Coleman said. "And obviously, then the outfits — that's how I kind of was like, 'What do I want this to look like?' and stuff."
Coleman said she was nervous at first.
"You know, when you hear tribute band, you think someone's dressing up and impersonating," Coleman said. "You know, like, I know that's not unusual. At least, that's a lot of tribute acts. And I bought wigs. I have them, and I was like, 'Oh, maybe I'll do that. I don't know.'"
But she turned to one of Parton's "Dollyisms."
"I kinda heard Dolly being like — one of her Dollyisms is, 'Figure out who you are and do it on purpose,'" Coleman said. "And I was like, 'You know what? I think Dolly would want me to be me.'"
Although she did not know Parton personally, Coleman said the singer had been her mentor through music.
"She's just been such a model of what it means to have insane integrity," Coleman said. "Like, start with kindness in every situation, and love and acceptance. And I'm just going to miss having her in this world and seeing her light shine everywhere. I wasn't ready. That was the first thing that crossed my mind. I wasn't ready for her to be gone."
Parton leaves behind a legacy as a country music star, philanthropist and inspiration to many.
Atlanta's LGBTQ+ community remembers Dolly Parton's love and support
Members of Atlanta's LGBTQ+ community gathered Tuesday night to remember Dolly Parton, whom they viewed as an icon.
"She never turned her back on us. Never," said Richard Ramey, who leads the staff at the Atlanta Eagle, a gay nightclub in Midtown. "She just felt like it was not her place to judge people or tell people who they should love or not love. So she always, always supported our community."
Ramey said he met Parton in 1999 through a mutual friend.
"It was one of the best days of my life, I tell you," Ramey said. "We had a mutual friend, Dr. Arnold Klein. She called him her Sweet William, and he was her dermatologist."
Ramey said the one word he would use to describe Parton is "love."
"I think her quality was the ability to love, and I will always love Dolly," Ramey said. "And I will truly, you know, I think the world will really miss her. I really do."
A crowd of square dancers at the Atlanta Eagle turned Tuesday night's gathering into a tribute to Parton.
"She was for everyone," Atlanta Eagle manager Anthony Baza-Fainn said. "She didn't, you know, designate any religion or Democratic policies or anything like that. She was just for everyone."
Many members of the LGBTQ+ community viewed Parton as an inspiration and a symbol of living authentically.
"Dolly was an inspiration. Dolly meant, you know, she represented so much joy," fan Daniel Baggerman said. "And I think, ideally, what it can mean to be proud, to be authentically yourself and to serve as a representation, a role model for how we can be proud and live that authentic life."
