LAFAYETTE PARISH — Dolly Parton’s passing has sparked an outpouring of memories from fans and musicians around the world, including in Louisiana, where the country music icon shared a memorable moment with one of Acadiana’s most legendary zydeco families.
A photo from 1987 shows Parton alongside zydeco legend Rockin’ Dopsie Sr. and his sons, including Anthony Dopsie. Decades later, Anthony still remembers the experience of seeing his father appear with Parton on her television show.
“Went in the studio with Dolly, it was all pre-recorded and stuff for the show and everything, and man, she was so down to earth, sat on the floor with everybody, got everybody ribeyes, everybody ate good, and she wanted to hear what we had going on here in Louisiana,” Anthony Dopsie recalled.
That experience also gave Dopsie a new appreciation for the music and culture he grew up around.
“It lets me see what we have in Louisiana here. We have something special. Everybody wants a piece of it. They want our food, they want the music. They wanna know what it is, what it's like,” Dopsie said.
Dopsie recently shared the photo from his family’s archive, giving people a glimpse into a moment when Louisiana zydeco reached a national audience alongside one of country music’s biggest stars.
For Dopsie, the memory goes beyond the photograph. He remembers Parton as warm and genuine, and he remembers the gift his father gave her on national television.
“She was an angel, man, and I mean, ‘can we take a picture,’ you know, it’s like, come on, yeah, sure, and man, my dad wound up giving a washboard to her right there on national TV, and he had it shaped out for her and everything, and she said, ‘mine is, I noticed it’s shifted.’ He said, yeah, it’s kind of difficult, but we made it work, you know what I’m saying,” Dopsie said.
The moment became another chapter in the Dopsie family’s musical legacy. Rockin’ Dopsie Sr. performed with major artists throughout his career, including Prince and B.B. King. Anthony has continued that legacy and recently earned a Grammy of his own. Still, Dopsie said he never viewed carrying on his father’s legacy as replacing him.
“I'll never be able to fill or, take his place, but I can just hold his spot, you know what I'm saying? And some people say, oh man, no, but Rock and Doopsie, man, that's one thing that my dad told us, when you get up on that stage, give people what they pay you for,” Dopsie said.
That philosophy helped carry the Dopsie name from Louisiana stages to a national television audience with Parton.
After sharing the 1987 photo, Dopsie said people from across the country reached out to thank him for showing how far zydeco and Louisiana culture have traveled.
“So many people reached out to me and say, man, thank you for posting that. Thank you for letting us see that where Zydeco is, even with an icon like Dolly Parton, a country guy that comes up from the north side of town…Look where I'm at, you know what I'm saying?” Dopsie said.
