Julia Stiles reveals Dolly Parton approved use of ‘9 to 5’ song for ‘DWTS’ weeks before her death
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Julia Stiles has disclosed that, just weeks before her death, Dolly Parton personally approved the use of her song ‘9 to 5’ for her performance on ‘Dancing With the Stars’.
Parton was 80 when she died on August 25. She breathed her last after a brief battle with cancer.
Julia Stiles honors Dolly Parton with ‘9 to 5’
Now, nearly a month after Parton's death, Stiles, who made her debut on the late icon’s hit number during night two of the season 35 premiere on Wednesday, September 16, shared in her rehearsal package that “it was only a couple weeks before Dolly passed that she approved this song specifically for me.”
“I’m so honored to be dancing to her music and honoring her legacy, and I want to make her proud,” the 45-year-old actress added, as per PEOPLE.
And Stiles did manage to make Parton proud, as she received a standing ovation from the audience for her dance with her partner, Ezra Sosa.
Julia Stiles praises Dolly Parton after DWTS performance
Following her set, when co-host Julianne Hough asked the ‘10 Things I Hate About You’ star how she felt after performing to Parton’s song, she replied, “It was the first song we talked about. I wanted it so badly. We didn’t know what was gonna happen. She cleared it, and I just feel so honored, like, to honor Dolly.”
“She’s such a powerhouse. And the song is so great. Like, it’s such an anthem. And, yeah, what a legend,” Stiles added.
Earlier, the former child actress had talked about dancing to ‘9 to 5’ on the ‘Dancing with the Stars’ podcast hosted by season 34 alum Andy Richter.
On the September 10 episode, she said, “Any time I feel, like, shaky or have self-doubt, I just think of Dolly. She was just epic. I feel so, so honored.”
Stella reveals why Dolly Parton hid cancer diagnosis
The revelation came after an August 25 announcement revealed that Parton died in Nashville, Tennessee, surrounded by her loved ones.
It was only after her death that it was shared that she had cancer. The late legend's sister Stella Parton later shared why her sibling did not make her illness public.
The 77-year-old explained that Parton “did not want anybody to tell that because Dolly could not bear negative things and she would not have wanted her fans worried about it. She didn’t want a lot of the family worried about it. Some of us knew the ones that were closer, but not every relative."
