Kenya Broadcasting Corporation’s (KBC) “Sundowner” host Catherine Ndonye says her 30 years in radio have come with a special challenge: choosing which Dolly Parton songs to play after the American singer-songwriter died aged 80 on Tuesday. The challenge is especially difficult given that her shows run for one or two hours.
“When an artist releases over 1,100 songs, all good for airplay, most big hits and keeps at it for over 60 years, it’s never an easy job choosing at least one,” Ms Ndonye told Nation yesterday.
Ms Ndonye’s Sundowner show airs on KBC English service every weekday evening. Although it is not a country music show, the genre features prominently.
“Getting into the KBC audio library, whether analogue or digital, to create a playlist for Sundowner and not including a Dolly song feels like a failure. She was a country music genius and has simply been herself and sang her way into the hearts of human beings the world over by telling stories of her life through her songs,” said Ms Ndonye, who has a Head of State Commendation.
Flowers lie at the star of Dolly Parton on the Hollywood Walk of Fame after it was announced that the country music icon died aged 80, in Los Angeles, California, US, August 25, 2026.
Photo credit: Reuters
While country music is part of Ms Ndonye’s work, some Kenyans make their living from the genre.
One is Moses Mwangi, alias DJ Rom Ace, who describes his work as “100 per cent country music”.
When DJ Rom Ace first heard of Dolly’s death, he thought it was a hoax, having seen false reports of her demise before. After checking online sources, he confirmed that the multi-Grammy Award-winning singer had died Tuesday in Nashville, Tennessee. “It was one of the saddest news. It hit me differently,” the 43-year-old told Nation .
DJ Rom Ace is a devoted Dolly Parton fan. Since 2018, he says, all his income has come from deejaying country music. “I’m a big fan of Dolly Parton, one of the country music icons and a legend. Being a millennial, we were raised with her songs and there are so many songs of hers that relate so much to me. Most of her songs resonate with our daily lives,” he said.
Dolly Parton accepts the Gary Haber Lifting Lives Award at Ashville, Tennessee, US in August 23, 2017.
Photo credit: Harrison McClary | Reuters
He is scheduled to host a Dolly Parton tribute show this evening (August 27) at Pardus Lounge in Thika. “I’m doing this for her and for my fans so that they can come together and celebrate her life and her music,” he told Nation . A similar show had been planned by New Lamu Haven in Lamu on August 26.
DJ Rom Ace is among Kenyans who earn a living from country music, a genre that began among rural Americans in the 1920s before going mainstream.
Another Kenyan whose career revolves around country music is Esther Waithera, better known as Ythera Wildflower, whose band is Artlantis.
A country music performer and recording artist, Ythera aims to “channel” Parton on stage.
“I grew up knowing her and loving her music. I have done a lot of her music, including a Kikuyu version of ‘Coat of Many Colors’,” said Ythera, who has been an artiste for 10 years. She learnt of Parton’s death through an online chat and confirmed it through her own searches.
“I was very saddened,” she said. “I was looking forward to meeting her, especially now that I will be travelling to America for the first-time next month. I have been nominated for the Texas International Country Music Award and hoped to meet her during the tour. It is saddening that I will never get to meet her personally.”
Dolly Parton became a global icon through her music and screen roles. Her family announced her death, while representatives said she had faced a brief battle with cancer.
In a video announcing her death, her nephew Bryan Seaver described her as someone who opened doors for generations of singers, musicians and dreamers.
Dolly Parton performs with Linda Perry during a gala event honoring Dolly Parton as the MusiCares person of the year, ahead of the Grammy Awards, in Los Angeles, California, U.S. February 8, 2019.
Photo credit: Mario Anzuoni | Reuters
Born Dolly Rebecca Parton on January 19, 1946, she was one of 12 children raised in a one-room cabin in Tennessee’s Appalachian region.
Music was woven into family life as her mother sang traditional story songs. Dolly began composing as a child. By 11, she was singing on local radio, and at 13 appeared at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry.
After high school, Dolly moved to Nashville and built her early career alongside singer Porter Wagoner. Their partnership produced successful duets and television exposure, but she eventually left to pursue a solo career.
She wrote “I Will Always Love You” as a farewell to Wagoner; years later, Whitney Houston’s version turned it into a worldwide pop standard. Other enduring songs included “Jolene”, “Coat of Many Colors”, “9 to 5” and “Here You Come Again”.
Dolly sold more than 100 million records and won 11 Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award.
She wrote an estimated 3,000 songs, drawing on poverty, family, faith, work and resilience.
She infused them with narrative, using memorable language to turn personal experiences into stories that travelled far beyond the US.
“As Africans, we love songs that tell stories and ones that we can easily sing along to. Dolly served them on a platter,” said Ms Ndonye.
That appeal helped introduce country music to audiences who might otherwise have viewed it as narrowly American.
Her career expanded into film, television and business. She starred in “9 to 5”, “Steel Magnolias” and “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas”, earning two Academy Award nominations for songwriting.
American country music star Dolly Parton performs on the Pyramid Stage at Worthy Farm in Somerset, during the Glastonbury Festival June 29, 2014.
Photo credit: Cathal McNaughton | Reuters
She also built Dollywood, a major theme park in Tennessee. Her blonde wigs, rhinestone costumes and self-deprecating humour became part of her image, but she insisted songwriting, rather than celebrity, was her central legacy.
Dolly’s influence also rested on philanthropy. Her Imagination Library, launched in 1995, sent free books monthly to children from birth to age five and later expanded internationally.
Inspired partly by her father’s illiteracy, the programme linked her fame to early literacy.
She funded scholarships and community programmes in Tennessee and donated $1 million (Sh129.5 million) to vaccine research at Vanderbilt University during the Covid-19 pandemic.
People gather at the Country Music Hall of Fame to sign a guest book in memory of Dolly Parton after it was announced that the country music icon died aged 80, in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., August 25, 2026.
Photo credit: Seth Herald | Reuters
Dolly’s appeal came from ambition, humour, business discipline and loyalty to her roots. She largely avoided partisan politics, rejecting major awards from presidents to retain her neutrality.
In the US, flags are flying at half-mast for the next week following an order by President Donald Trump, who eulogised Dolly as “one of the greatest country singers”. For Kenyans who encountered her work in their daily lives, memories abound.
Ms Ndonye said Dolly’s family life will remain etched in her memory, especially her 60-year marriage to a man who avoided publicity.
“She never used his surname professionally but stuck to him for 60 years until his death in 2025. That is record-breaking,” said Ms Ndonye. “Not having children in her marriage, but being everybody’s Godmother, guardian, mentor, sponsor, educator and mother sits too well with me. It went beyond having children of her own.”
The misconception that Dolly was married to Kenny Rogers led Ms Ndonye to create a special radio segment.
“Dolly’s life story was one of the reasons I introduced the biographical segment (Music Masters) within the Sundowner show almost a decade ago. The misconception by many listeners that she was married to Kenny Rogers gnawed at my conscience too long and I knew I had to create a platform that would help demystify the sometimes very tumultuous and eventful lives of music superstars using factual information,” said Ms Ndonye. For Ythera, Dolly’s songwriting prowess is legendary.
“She was a great songwriter,” said the musician. “I don’t think I would ever measure up to that but I would say maybe the way I perform. The way I perform my music, I just get to channel her.”
For DJ Rom Ace, the message in her songs lives on. He listed “Family”, “Wildflower” and “Divorce” among his favourites.
“She also has a song that resonates well with most of my friends and most of the country fans, especially when we are gathered together. The song is called ‘We Cannot Make Old Friends’. It’s a great song. It’s a song you can play anytime,” said DJ Rom Ace.
