Sad Parting For Dolly Parton And Porter Wagoner

Los Angeles Times:

"Porter Wagoner, the blond pompadoured, rhinestone-encrusted personification of Nashville tradition, host of the longest-running country-music variety show in TV history and mentor to Dolly Parton, died Sunday night of lung cancer. He was 80. Wagoner died at a hospice in Nashville, according to an announcement on the Grand Ole Opry's website.

"Parton recently went to a Nashville hospital to visit the man who inspired her best-known song, 'I Will Always Love You,' after their acrimonious career split in the mid-1970s. She described him then as very weak, but said Wagoner 'had his wits and joked around,' and she vowed she would sing with him again at the Grand Ole Opry when he was ready. Wagoner was released from the hospital Friday and transferred to hospice care.

"A little more than a year ago, Wagoner had been seriously ill after suffering an intestinal aneurysm, but defied a dire medical prognosis and recovered sufficiently to mount a career comeback that led to appearances last summer on 'The Late Show With David Letterman' and an opening slot at Madison Square Garden with upstart rock band the White Stripes, whose members are ardent Wagoner fans."