Eminem shares sweet note from Dolly Parton

Telling the rapper “Your performance was amazing and everybody said so,” Parton continued, “Even though I don’t know a lot about rap music, I’ve come to know that you are the very best at it.” (There’s something sweet about Parton pumping up the famously not-humble Eminem with encouragement that his set went well.) She then added, with a signature blend of folksy friendliness and no-foolin’ human feeling, “I hope what I have to say will not seem weird or strange to you but I have always felt some unexplained connection to you like I know you somehow. I had hoped to meet you at the show but you know how nuts those things are, personally I hate ’em and I missed my chance but maybe someday we’ll meet.”

Signing off, the country legend told the rap star, “In the meantime, keep doing what you’re doing because you do it so well and no matter how complex your world may be just know you are very special and touch people in ways you don’t even know,” concluding, “With love & respect, Dolly Parton.”

For Parton, who famously shunned profanity in her work (and gently suggested alternatives in her collaborations with others), a connection with the “Lose Yourself” rapper might seem incongruous. (She sent a similar letter cheering on rappers and fellow Tennesseans Three 6 Mafia after “It’s Hard Out Here For A Pimp” beat Parton’s “Travelin’ Thru” at the 2006 Oscars.) But as people are reminded in the days following her death of how Parton’s faith extended to embrace people and groups traditionally excluded by more rigid so-called Christians, the singer, philanthropist, and all-around legend just loved who she loved.

And her loss affected everyone, with Eminem sharing his regret that he never took up Parton’s offer to meet, concluding his own goodbye by similarly reaching across the musical genre aisle by noting, “Even for a kid who mostly listened to rap music, she was an icon. A superstar in every sense. Rest easy, Dolly.”