Reba McEntire says she missed a call from Dolly Parton and was never able to reconnect with the country music legend before Parton died roughly a month later.
“She did call me the last of July, and I was in a meeting and I missed her call,” McEntire, the singer behind “Fancy,” told Entertainment Tonight in an interview released Friday.
McEntire said she repeatedly tried to reach Parton afterward, but the two never managed to speak. “I tried to get back in touch with her, and I couldn’t. Never made connection,” she said.
When McEntire, 71, learned on Aug. 25 that “Dolly’s gone,” she said her immediate thought was, “I’ll never know why she called me.”
Even so, McEntire said she remains hopeful that she will “find out one day.”
Earlier this month, McEntire paid tribute to Parton at the Emmy Awards, performing the late singer’s song “Appalachian Memories.”
Dressed in a sparkling white gown, the “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia” singer delivered an emotional rendition accompanied by a live symphony.
After Parton died last month at age 80, McEntire also remembered her longtime friend and fellow country star in a heartfelt social media tribute.
“Well, I just got the news that my buddy Dolly passed onto the higher and greater side,” McEntire wrote. “Dolly, thank you for all the wonderful things you did for us here on earth.”
“Your love, your music and you gave so much with your huge huge heart,” she continued. “There will never ever be another you. We will remember and cherish every memory and every note you ever played and sang.”
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McEntire added that Parton was “gonna have a blast in heaven singing all her favorite songs with all her family and friends who have gone on before her.” She also said she would “never forget” either the first time they met or their final conversation.
“I hold it with love in my heart,” McEntire said of those memories.
During her Entertainment Tonight interview, McEntire described her last completed conversation with Parton as “really special.” Although she knew Parton was busy, McEntire said, “I didn’t want to let her go.”
Parton’s cause of death was confirmed the day she died, when her representatives revealed that she had been privately battling cancer.
“After bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her Earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones,” her representatives said in a statement to Page Six Tuesday. They did not disclose the type of cancer.
Days later, Parton’s loved ones gathered in Nashville, where the “Jolene” singer was buried at Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum beside her late husband, Carl Dean.
Dean died in March 2025 at age 82.
After Parton’s death, her sisters Freida and Stella cryptically addressed online rumors of a family feud. The speculation followed the reported firing of Parton’s nephew and head of security, Bryan Seaver.
Parton’s longtime manager, Danny Nozell, has since sued Seaver, accusing him of attempting to extort money and making deadly threats. However, insiders told Page Six they fear Nozell simply “wants the family out of the picture.”