Stephen Colbert moved to tears after Dolly Parton sings

Stephen Colbert, left, is moved to tears after hearing Dolly Parton sing "Bury Me Beneath the Willows" on 'The Late Show" (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert/YouTube)

Dolly Parton’s mom used to sing melodies as a child, including “Bury Me Beneath The Willow," but she didn’t expect to bring Stephen Colbert to tears.

The legendary country singer made an appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” to talk about her latest book “Songteller: My Life in Lyrics" and her latest holiday album “A Holly Dolly Christmas."

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Parton went on to talk about her mother and how she used to teach songs that told stories, which included “Bury Me Beneath The Willow”, a song she once sung about a bride finding out her groom left her at the altar to possibly seek another woman, and later died.

“My mama was a good singer, she used to sing songs that were sad, and sometimes pitiful,” she told Colbert.

She proceeded to sing a piece of “Bury Me Beneath the Willow”, drawing Colbert in tears by her singing.

“You know sometimes there’s nothing happier than a cry?” he said while quickly wiping tears off his eyes during the show.

“Songteller: My Life in Lyrics” will be released on Nov. 17.


About the Author

A graduate of the University of Houston-Downtown, Ana moved to H-Town from sunny southern California in 2015. In 2020, she joined the KPRC 2 digital team as an intern. Ana is a self-proclaimed coffee connoisseur, a catmom of 3, and an aquarium enthusiast. In her spare time, she's an avid video gamer and loves to travel.

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