Country music legend has declined honor from both Trump and Biden. Here’s why

Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton has turned down the Presidential Medal of Freedom three times.Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP

Dolly Parton turned 79 on Sunday and that is big deal, especially in the country music world, because few are more beloved than her.

Because of that, her birthday has become almost like a holiday and even the Grand Ole Opry holds a yearly celebration in the day on her honor. So, that in mind, there were plenty of Dolly Parton headlines floating around social media and the web across the weekend.

Look hard enough, too, and you will find a piece from Snopes fact checking whether or not the legendary singer has actually declined the Presidential Medal of Freedom three times.

And, per Snopes, … yes, Parton has been offered the honor three times and has thus far declined each time.

So, what’s up? Well, per Snopes, both President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump offered her the honor, but each time she had extenuating circumstances that prevented her from accepting.

Snopes pointed to a February 2021 interview that Parton did on NBC’s “Today” with Jenna Bush Hager.

“We read the President Obama’s biggest mistake was not giving you the Medal of Freedom, and he said he’s going to call his friend Joe (Biden),” Bush Hager said. “Well, have you heard from Joe?”

“Well, I actually have,” Parton explained. “To be honest, in all fairness, I got offered the Freedom award from the Trump administration. I couldn’t accept it because my husband was ill, and then they asked me again about it and I wouldn’t travel because of the COVID. So, now I feel like if I take it, I’ll be doing politics, so I’m not sure. I don’t work for those awards. It’d be nice, but I’m not sure that I even deserve it. But that’s a nice compliment for people to think that I might deserve it.”

So, maybe someday Parton will get the medal, but it probably shouldn’t surprise anyone that she is humble enough to think that she isn’t worthy. After all, when Billboard named her as its top country music artist of all time last year, she also seemed a bit surprised by that.

“I just learned that Billboard Magazine just released their list of greatest country artists of all time, and they have my name sitting at the top!” Parton said in a video posted to her X account. “Can you believe that?

“Now, when I was a little girl, I’d sit around the radio listening to the Grand Ole Opry and hearing all those great big stars like Hank Williams, Kitty Well and Johnny Cash, and I dreamed of what my life could become as well. I just want to say a great big thank you to the folks at Billboard, but most of all to you, the fans, I take none of this for granted. So, thank you for giving me the opportunity to take my music all around the world and to see my dreams come true. Just know this from the bottom of my heart, I will always love you. And I will always be doing that country music.”