Despite being a country legend in her own right, Reba McEntire doesn’t have much of a leg up on the average person when it comes to contacting the one and only Dolly Parton. In a recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, McEntire revealed that she can only reach Parton via fax.
“Dolly does not text,” McEntire said in a segment called “Textual Behavior.” When asked whether Parton uses email or can be reached on a landline, McEntire said her only option is through “fax.”
She continued, “I don’t have her telephone number and I asked Kenny Rogers one time. I said, ‘Do you have Dolly’s number?’ He said, ‘No.’ Maybe he said that because he didn’t want to give it to me. I don’t know.
This isn’t a situation where McEntire and Parton are complete strangers. Back in 2011, Dolly inducted Reba into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and they went on to co-host the 2019 CMA Awards with Carrie Underwood. Most recently, Parton appeared on a reworking of McEntire’s 1993 hit, “Does He Love You,” standing in for Linda Davis’ original vocals.
That being said, the fax-only situation leads us to wonder why Cohen didn’t ask the obvious follow-up questions. Does Reba McEntire even own a fax machine? If not, does she go to a local print shop when she has to reach Dolly? What does she write in these faxes? Now, we’ll never know.
In any case, Parton is set to become a full-fledged Rockstar when her new album drops on November 17th. Thus far, she’s shared the lead single, “World on Fire,” “Bygones” featuring Judas Priest’s Rob Halford, a cover of Heart’s “Magic Man” with Ann Wilson herself, her take on Queen’s classic “We Are the Champions,” a reworking of “Let It Be” with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, and a reimagining of 4 Non Blondes’ ’90s staple “What’s Up?” with original vocalist Linda Perry.
McEntire’s most recent album, Not That Fancy, was released last week and includes the aforementioned Dolly feature.
