Damon Albarn earned some well-deserved criticism earlier this week after he questioned Taylor Swift’s songwriting during an interview in the Los Angeles Times. The Blur singer, who later apologized for his words, said that Swift “doesn’t write her own songs.” Shortly after the interview was released, Swift responded to his comments. “@DamonAlbarn I was such a big fan of yours until I saw this,” she wrote in a tweet. “I write ALL of my own songs. Your hot take is completely false and SO damaging. You don’t have to like my songs but it’s really f—ed up to try and discredit my writing. WOW.”
Days after Swift issued this response, Dolly Parton took a moment to share her thoughts on the matter during an interview with HollywoodLife. “I don’t care what other people say about my songs,” she said. “But with Taylor, she’s a great writer — with or without anybody.” Parton added that “when you co-write a song, you work just as hard. Sometimes you work harder with a co-writer because you want to be sure to do your part.”
“I really get rubbed wrong sometimes when people mistreat the artist. I don’t like that,” Parton continued before praising Swift and calling her “magnificent.” “I think she’s done great,” she added. “And that’s one of the things I admire about her because she’s never sold herself. She’s never felt like she’s had to sell her body. She’s always had good taste in how she’s presented herself and with her songs. And she’s very creative and very, very, very smart in the marketing of her life.” Parton concluded, “She knows who she is and what she wants. And I’m the same way. I’m going to fight if it goes against what I feel is not right for me.”
You can read Parton’s full interview with HollywoodLife here.