Dolly Parton and Latino Artists: From Julio Iglesias and Linda Ronstadt to Pitbull, Chiquis and Siempre en Domingo: Dolly Parton’s Remarkable Latino Connection
- HL News Desk
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
Dolly Parton belonged to Tennessee, but her music belonged to the world.
As fans continue to celebrate the extraordinary life of the country music legend, who died Aug. 25 at 80, one lesser-known chapter of her career deserves another look: Parton’s decades-long connection to Latino artists, Latin music and Spanish-language television.
It stretched from Julio Iglesias and Linda Ronstadt to José Feliciano, Chiquis, Becky G and Pitbull — while her songs found new lives in everything from Dominican merengue to Mexican-American cumbia.
Perhaps one of the most significant collaborations came in 1994, when Spanish superstar Julio Iglesias recorded “When You Tell Me That You Love Me” with Parton for his album Crazy. The pairing brought together two unmistakable voices and two artists who had become global symbols of very different musical worlds.
But Dolly Parton Latino artists deepest musical connection to a Latina artist was undoubtedly Linda Ronstadt.
Ronstadt, whose Mexican family roots trace to Sonora, joined Parton and Emmylou Harris for 1987’s landmark Trio. The women reunited for Trio II in 1999, creating one of country music’s great vocal partnerships.
Parton later described the relationship in deeply personal terms.
“I love these girls like sisters,” she said while discussing The Complete Trio Collection, adding that their work together would “stand up long after we’re all gone.”
Parton also called the Trio recordings among the greatest musical achievements of her life.
Puerto Rican legend José Feliciano became another member of Dolly’s extended musical family in 2021 when the two recorded a new version of her “Eagle When She Flies.”
Feliciano was effusive about the experience, saying he was “blown away” that Parton agreed to join him before offering perhaps the perfect description of his collaborator:
“Dolly, herself, is a magnificent eagle.”
Then there was “Jolene.”
Few Dolly songs demonstrate her reach into Latin culture better.
Dominican merengue supergroup Las Chicas del Can transformed the country classic into “Youlin” in the 1980s, taking a song born in Nashville and sending it onto Caribbean dance floors.
Decades later, Chiquis and Becky G reinvented “Jolene” again, this time as a Spanish-language cumbia.
Parton loved it.
“I love being able to join country and Latin music,” Dolly said of the interpretation. “Hearing ‘Jolene’ done in Latin cumbia rhythm and getting to sing to the beat was so much fun for me.”
That connection culminated during the Latin Recording Academy’s 2021 Ellas y Su Música celebration.
Dolly appeared remotely and introduced Chiquis — whom she called her “friend” — before technology brought the two together for a bilingual performance of “Jolene.”
The evening placed Parton inside an extraordinary celebration of women in Latin music.
Gloria Estefan was among the icons honored, with Leslie Grace, Kany García and Ximena Sariñana performing songs from her catalog before Estefan herself appeared for “Conga.”
Becky G introduced the Estefan tribute.
The program also featured a remarkable collection of Latin talent, including Thalía, La India, Olga Tañón, Ednita Nazario, Milly Quezada, Aida Cuevas, Ana Bárbara, Alejandra Guzmán, Lila Downs and others.
For Dolly, language apparently wasn’t a barrier.
Her message that evening was fitting: she was excited to celebrate women in music regardless of language.
Then came Pitbull.
In 2024, Mr. Worldwide and the Queen of Country joined forces for “Powerful Women,” which incorporated Dolly’s working-class anthem “9 to 5.”
When the two finally met in Nashville, Pitbull recalled Dolly delivering the perfect introduction.
“You know I’m Ms. Worldwide, right?” she told him.
It was quintessential Dolly.
Following her death, the Miami-born Cuban-American superstar revealed that the connection went considerably deeper.
During his Aug. 25 concert at Jones Beach in New York, Pitbull stopped the show to remember a woman he said believed in him “when a lot of folks didn’t.”
“She showed me a lot of love,” he told the audience, describing Parton as hardworking, intelligent, sophisticated, funny and powerful — but, above everything else, “a good human being with a good heart.”
As “9 to 5” played, a photograph of Dolly and Pitbull appeared behind him.
Her Latino connections extended into Hollywood as well.
Parton built an acting career alongside her music, starring in 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Rhinestone, Steel Magnolias and Joyful Noise, among other projects.
In 2005, she hilariously played herself in Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous, appearing in the Sandra Bullock comedy alongside Cuban-American actor Enrique Murciano, who played FBI agent Jeff Foreman.
But one of the most intriguing chapters leads south to Mexico.
Parton has been linked to an appearance on Raúl Velasco’s Siempre en Domingo, the legendary Televisa variety show that became an institution across Mexico, the United States and Latin America.
Velasco’s program was no small television stop. During its nearly three-decade run, Siempre en Domingo presented an astonishing range of artists, from Latin superstars such as Julio Iglesias, Luis Miguel and Thalía to international acts including The Bee Gees, ABBA, Santana and Bon Jovi.
Recent Mexican media coverage has specifically revisited the moment Parton reportedly appeared with Velasco on the program.
Yet it has become something of a television mystery.
Despite extensive searches, a clearly authenticated photograph of Parton with Velasco or a complete readily accessible video of the original appearance has proven difficult to locate online. Somewhere, perhaps inside the vast Televisa archive or on an old VHS tape, another piece of Dolly Parton history may still be waiting to be rediscovered.
What emerges from all these connections is bigger than a list of celebrity collaborations.
Dolly sang with Julio Iglesias and José Feliciano. She made musical history with Linda Ronstadt. Las Chicas del Can turned “Jolene” into merengue. Chiquis and Becky G gave it a cumbia makeover. She entered the Latin Grammy world alongside Gloria Estefan and generations of Latina performers. And decades after “9 to 5,” Pitbull introduced Dolly to another generation.
Dolly Parton never needed to reinvent herself as a Latin artist.
Latino artists simply heard something universal in her.
Her melodies crossed borders, her lyrics survived translation and her personality needed none.
Dolly was Tennessee through and through.
But as her friend Pitbull might put it, she was also something else:
Ms. Worldwide.
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