Dolly Parton Reveals The Only Time She Ever Struggled To Write A Song

Dolly Parton appears on Khloé Kardashian’s podcast ‘Khloé In Wonderland’ (YouTube/Khloé Kardashian)

Dolly Parton Shares The Only Time She Ever Came Close To Experiencing Writer’s Block

On Thursday, July 10, Dolly Parton made a special appearance on Khloé Kardashian’s podcast Khloé in Wonderland.

The country music icon sat down to chat about a variety of topics, including the one time she felt she came close to experiencing writer’s block.

The conversation began with Dolly opening up about how much songwriting means to her. She shared that when she’s writing a song, it’s the closest she ever feels to her spiritual self.

“I love that I can create something… to leave something in the world today that wasn’t there yesterday,” she said.

And not only is it clear that Dolly is one of the greatest songwriters of all time, but songwriting also seems to come naturally to her. Over the course of her career, she’s written nearly 3,000 songs.

With that many songs under her belt, you’d think Dolly would’ve run into writer’s block at some point. But according to the “9 to 5” singer, she actually never has.

Still, she did recall one moment in her career when she felt the closest to it, and it just so happened to be while working on what would become one of her most critically acclaimed projects ever.
Photo by Peter Still/Getty Images
During the podcast, Dolly revealed that the closest she ever came to experiencing writer’s block was while working on the 1982 musical comedy film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

“That story was already written, and I was tryin’ to come up with stuff for that,” Dolly told Khloé. “They were demanding certain things, and there was a time element.”

She explained that it was more difficult than anything she had done before because it was the first time she was writing music without having full creative control.

“And so I was having to write under somebody else’s direction, trying to come up with what they needed…but me trying to come up with how I wanted that to sound.”

Dolly Parton Says She’s Currently Putting Songwriting On Pause

There’s no doubt that Dolly Parton will never stop writing songs. She’s even said she has no plans to ever retire. But for now, she shared that she’s taking a break from songwriting. 

The 79-year-old says that while she still has plenty of ideas, she hasn’t felt able to finish them. Right now, she is still grieving the recent passing of her husband, Carl Dean.

“There are a few things now that my husband passed away a few months ago, when you asked me if there were things that I started, but haven’t finished. Several things I have wanted to start, but I can’t do it,” she told Khloé. “I will later, I’m just coming up with such wonderful, beautiful ideas, but I think I won’t finish it. I can’t do it right now, because I got so many other things. I can’t afford the luxury of, you know, getting that emotional righténow. There are times like that, things like that, that will stall you a little bit. But I’ll write something else, though, if it comes. I’m just putting [songwriting] on hold.”

Dolly and Carl were married for 59 years before his passing in March 2025. Following his death, Dolly released a song titled “If You Hadn’t Been There” dedicated to him.