A group of Tennesseans were treated to an impromptu performance by Dolly Parton in the parking lot of a Walmart in Newport on Friday, October 4th. The music icon appeared during a press conference addressing the damage and devastation caused by Hurricane Helene. While addressing the audience, she delivered a short remix of “Jolene,” changing the infamous name to Helene and singing, “Helene, you came in here and tore us all apart.”

It was a lighthearted moment as Parton then announced her plan to donate $1 million to relief funds to help those affected by Hurricane Helene. “For me personally, just from my own bank account, I’m donating a million dollars today,” she told the crowd. “But there is still a lot of work to be done and we are trying to find other ways to raise even more money.”

For starters, Parton is partnering with The Dollywood Company to provide an additional $1 million. The $2 million will be donated to the Mountain Ways Foundation, which supports relief and recovery efforts in East Tennessee, Western North Carolina and the greater Appalachian region.

“We’ll start with a good little hunk,” she continued. “And like I said, we’re trying to find other ways to make money because, as you know, that’s going to cost a lot of money. And it will take a long time. There’s still so much to do.” She should have said more, but she dismissed everything else on the teleprompter. “I don’t have to say much because I like to speak from the heart,” she noted.

Parton began her speech by reflecting on the damage she had suffered in areas she had become intimately familiar with growing up in Tennessee. “Who would have thought that in our little part of the country here – where I was born and raised right down the street – we would see such devastation,” she said. “I look around and think, these are my mountains. These are my valleys. These are my rivers that flow like a stream. These are my people. These mountain-colored rainbows, these are my people and this is my home… I just want you to know that I am completely with you because I am a part of you. I love you.”

Parts of the southeastern United States were devastated last week when Hurricane Helene touched down. According to NBC, the Category 4 hurricane left behind a mounting death toll that has risen to over 220 people, while hundreds remain missing and unaccounted for. Hundreds of thousands of households are without power and there is widespread infrastructure damage across the region.

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