Our 45-Year Friendship

THE LASTING BOND BETWEEN COUNTRY MUSIC QUEENS REBA MCENTIRE AND DOLLY PARTON IS BUILT ON FAITH, FAMILY AND THEIR SHARED MISSION TO GIVE BACK.

BACK in 1986, Dolly Parton put Pigeon Forge, Tenn., on the map when she built the Dollywood theme park in the hopes of boosting the local economy. (It worked: The amusement park, which is located a few miles from where Dolly grew up, brings in an estimated $100 million a year and is the most-visited tourist attraction in the state.) Now fellow country music legend Reba McEntire is giving her seen-better-days Oklahoma hometown a leg up with Reba’s Place, a restaurant and live-music venue that has drawn 500,000 guests since it opened its doors in January. Asked if she envisioned Reba’s Place growing into the next Dollywood, the 68-year-old was typically humble, saying, “I don’t know if I could ever touch that.”

But for much of their 45-year friendship, Dolly, 77, and Reba have been in sync. They’re small-town girls who made it big in a largely male-dominated industry. They’ve endured hardships and relied on their faith — and each other — to survive. And they are as dedicated as ever to giving back. “There’s nothing phony about either one of them,” a source tells Star of the pair, who had their first encounter at Reba’s very first show at Nashville’s storied Grand Ole Opry in 1977. “Now that they’re famous country stars, they have the means to do more, and they are both very passionate about helping others.”

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