Dolly Parton on Taylor Swift’s Touring Fame: ‘I’ve Never Seen Anything Like It’

Yep, Dolly Parton's a Swiftie — or at the very least, she's impressed with Taylor Swift's ability to captivate an audience.

"Well good Lord, who could be better than Taylor Swift?" Parton tells Taste of Country Nights' Evan Paul, when asked which of today's stars are raising the bar onstage.

"She's killing it. I've never seen anything like it. Yay Taylor, you go!" the country legend goes on to say.

Parton adds that she's always willing to cheer along for any young act working to up their touring game, even if she's often too busy to watch their shows in person.

"I honestly have to say, I work so hard that I don't even get to follow some of the young people, but I always just wish 'em the best. I remember what it was like when I was starting out, being hopeful that I could make my dreams come true," she reflects.

"Touring, you know, it's the way you make your money and it's the way you make your fame. You can make records all day, but you need to get out and let the people hear it."

From there, Parton immediately jokes that she won't be taking her own advice when she releases her Rockstar album this November. She quietly retired from full-scale touring in 2016. Plus, Rockstar is packed with superstar duets — Stevie Nicks, Elton John and two Beatles are just a few of the legends singing on the record — and getting that all-star crew together for a tour is a logistical feat that not even Parton could accomplish.

"I'll not be touring with this rock album. I never dreamed of trying to get that good of a group of people together!" she adds.

Now 77 years old, Parton says she's got no regrets about stepping away from the road, though there are a few things about tour life that she'll always miss.

"I miss the fans," she admits.

"But I get to do enough special shows, especially events, charity shows — I get to do that enough now to where I don't miss it like I did when I first quit," the singer goes on to say. "But you always — there's an energy about the fans and being live on stage like that, it's like a drug. It's like an addiction. You get addicted to those fans and that feeling and that love. It's like a shot of adrenaline or something."