Q1: What song did Dolly Parton sing to Stephen Colbert on The Late Show?
A1: Dolly Parton sang an unscripted excerpt of "Bury Me Beneath the Willow," an American folk lament popularized by the Carter Family in 1927, followed immediately by lines from another traditional mountain ballad, "Jealous Lover."
Q2: Why was Dolly Parton appearing on The Late Show in October 2020?
A2: She was promoting her autobiographical book Songteller: My Life in Lyrics, which explores the origins and backstories of 175 of her most famous songs throughout her six-decade career.
Q3: Did Stephen Colbert know Dolly Parton was going to sing?
A3: No. The performance was entirely impromptu. Colbert asked a conversational question about her mother's musical influence, and Parton demonstrated by singing acapella without prior warning to the production team.
Q4: Why was Colbert particularly sensitive to the song's themes?
A4: Colbert lost his father and two brothers in a 1974 plane crash when he was ten years old. He has often spoken about how grief shapes his life, and Parton's maternal delivery of an ancient mourning song triggered an involuntary emotional response.
