Dolly Will Always Love Jessica Simpson

Posted by amyclark on 08/11/2008
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8/20/2007 Stephen L. Betts Last December Jessica Simpson was on stage at the Kennedy Center Honors gala singing honoree Dolly Parton's "9 to 5," when all of a sudden she forgot the words and left the stage in tears. Her performance was cut from the special when it aired on television. "I failed," Jessica says in the just-released September issue of Self magazine. "I let people down. But Dolly wrote me the kindest words. She said, 'I will always love you,' and 'Don't listen to what these people are saying,' and 'I can't remember those words when I sing that damn song, and I wrote it.'" And when Dolly Parton says "I will always love you and don't listen to what other people are saying," that helps you get out of it! It was hard to overcome my fear of getting on stage again, but I did. I got on stage with Willie Nelson to sing gospel. We did "Amazing Grace" and "I'll Fly Away." That was perfect because I was singing gospel so I was praying the whole time! And Willie is just an angel.'" Jessica blames her lackluster performance on nervousness brought on by her voice cracking three months earlier while singing on the Today show.