Dolly Parton Doesn’t Worry About Flubbing Lyrics

She's written and recorded thousands of songs throughout her career, so it's no surprise that the otherwise consummately professional and usually unflappable Dolly Parton admits that even she has flubbed a line or two during a live performance.

"You can't write and sing as many songs as I have throughout the years and not forget what you're doing, even though you sing them over and over and over," Dolly tells The Boot. "Because it is a funny thing about an artist, you think of things as you're performing. I think ahead, because I'm so familiar with the songs. But by doing that, every once in awhile, I will forget."

And even though she wrote -- and lived -- most of the songs she performs night after night, Dolly does rely on the technological advantage of a teleprompter screen from time to time, to keep up with the lyrics.

"Even though these are songs I've sung 100 times, it's easy to miss it," the iconic entertainer acknowledges. "Even if I do, my fans are very forgiving. I just make up that part of the show. Sometimes I just stop of the show and say, 'Well, I screwed that part up pretty good. Let's start again.' Or I'll just change it into something else. I don't worry about it. I'm not a perfectionist. I'm professional, but not a perfectionist. Not everything has to be perfect. What is perfect, anyway? Depends on someone's attitude about what perfect is. A fan might have thought it was perfect [that] I was having so much fun messing up!"

Dolly is slated to join her fans this coming weekend for the kick-off of the 2012 season of her Dollywood amusement park in the Great Smoky Mountains of east Tennessee. She'll be making surprise appearances throughout Dollywood all day Saturday (March 24). For more details of the upcoming season and all the latest news about Dollywood and surrounding attractions, visit the official Dollywood website.

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