5-Year-Old Blows Audience Away With Adorable Performance Of Dolly Parton Song

Mar 25, 2021

The Ellen Show has hosted a large number of acts over the years which are noted for their ability to emotionally impact you in some way; you are left feeling elated, moved, or even rejuvenated about the world. Ellen Degeneres has a way of taking the best stories out there and bringing them to the screen for everyone to enjoy. Some of the best kinds of stories she gets are about kids doing the sweetest or funniest things. 

One of the most well-known segments included an adorable boy who enthusiastically sang an Ed Sheeran song but didn't realize that Sheeran was standing right behind him through his performance. Videos like this have the power to make your day better and brighter, and have a hard time losing their value on the "cute-o-meter." In many ways, kids being themselves and just having fun without worrying about being judged or mocked is also inspirational; it teaches us to not be so inhibited with ourselves and embrace our inner child and just have fun. 

In November 2020, a five-year-old girl named Violet Burdick made her way onto the show with her father Ryan. She was introduced as a superfan of Dolly Parton and spoke to Ellen about her love for country music and the enigmatic Parton. Before leaving the show, Ryan and Violet gave the audience and Ellen their own rendition of Parton's hit "Jolene." The adorable Violet sang her heart out and showed everyone exactly what being Dolly Parton's best fan means for a five-year-old. This video is sure to make your day.

Early on, Violet has shown that she has started developing great taste in music. The description of the YouTube video states that Violet is the biggest fan of Dolly Parton. In the video below, Ellen welcomes Violet and her dad onto the show and goes onto ask the young girl why it is that she likes Dolly Parton so much. "Because she has a beautiful voice and because she gives books to kids in need," responds Violet. We certainly agree that those are great reasons to love Parton! 

What Violet was referring to was Dolly Parton's philanthropic program called Imagination Library. According to their official website, the Imagination Library "is a book gifting program that mails free, high-quality books to children from birth to age five, no matter their family’s income." Ryan explains this further by saying that he believes that to qualify, the school district possibly has to be in a lower-income area and that Violet had been receiving one book every month thanks to this generous program. "Some of Violet's favorite books have come from Dolly," he adds with a smile. 

All of the books come with Parton's face attached to the back, so from a young age, Violet knew that a person called Dolly kept sending her books, and Violet's parents also told her more information about the famed Dolly Parton, which naturally led to Violet's interest in Parton. Moreover, Ryan also tells Ellen that he is a musician and played some of Parton's songs for his daughter, which made Violet fall in love with the artist. 

Before she sings "Jolene" together with her dad, Violet is asked what she knows about Parton's life as well. Violet comes up with a nice anecdote about Parton's childhood, saying, "Her mama made a coat of many colors for her and she brought it to school and all the kids laughed at her. And Dolly Parton told her friends, but her friends couldn't understand it." Violet's retelling of the story of another one of Parton's hit songs, "Coat Of Many Colors" is actually rather sweet. 

We also get another explanation from Violet about the song "Jolene" before her performance. "Jolene is about a girl named Jolene and she wanted to take Dolly's man," explains Violet once again, much to the delight of both Ellen and the audience. It is then finally time for Ryan and Violet for the much-awaited father-daughter rendition of the same song. 

With Ryan on the guitar, Violet is free to sing her heart out and she does just that. While most of us who are not trained or gifted singers would shy away from singing in public, Violet shows us that as long as we have a love for the song and the artist, we can have a great time singing and it's gonna sound great! She does a beautiful and adorable rendition of Jolene flawlessly, which is a great accomplishment for a five-year-old. She also has a very powerful voice which shows that she has taken a leaf out of Parton's book when it comes to singing. We believe she has what it takes to be a great singer in the future! 

After their wonderful performance, the father-daughter duo return to the couch to speak to Ellen again, who announces that she is giving them an all-expenses-paid trip to Dollywood in Tennessee. They also receive a gift basket from Ellen, which looks like it contains a number of little goodies all having to do with Dolly Parton! What an exciting and wonderful time for the Burdick family. We are glad that Violet was able to have this experience of a lifetime. 

In 2008, Parton discussed how "Jolene" came to be in an interview with NPR. "One night, I was on stage, and there was this beautiful little girl — she was probably 8 years old at the time," Parton said. "And she had this beautiful red hair, this beautiful skin, these beautiful green eyes, and she was looking up at me, holding, you know, for an autograph. I said, 'Well, you're the prettiest little thing I ever saw. So what is your name?' And she said, 'Jolene.' And I said, 'Jolene. Jolene. Jolene. Jolene.' I said, 'That is pretty. That sounds like a song. I'm going to write a song about that.'"

The story of the song came from a real-life experience when Parton realized that the bank-teller had a crush on her husband, which turned into a running joke between the couple. About the tone of the song, Parton added, "it's really an innocent song all around, but sounds like a dreadful one." Even though the song was released so long ago, it's great to see that it is still a favorite among the kids even today. 

What do you think about Violet's adorable performance? Do you have a favorite Dolly Parton song? Tell us about it, and make sure to also let your friends and family know about this sweet video!