‘Devastated’ Dolly Parton impersonator feels ‘nice accountability’ to proceed her legacy

Kelly O’Brien has toured the world with her theatre show as Dolly has vowed to carry on playing the country legend in tribute to the star who diel last month aged 80

The UK’s leading Dolly Parton impersonator has said the country star’s death means a “great light has gone out in the world” and she feels a “great responsibility” to continue her legacy.

Kelly O’Brien, 52, began singing country music as a teenager and discovered her talent for impersonating Dolly after dressing up as the star for a friend’s 40th birthday party.

Kelly, a mother-of-two who lives in Aldbury, Hertfordshire, went on to spend six months in intensive training, learning how to make dresses, perfect her makeup skills, play instruments and speak like Dolly.

She has since built a career as a Dolly impersonator and has toured the world with her theatre show, even meeting Dolly herself in 2011.

Kelly said her house is even full of more than 150 Dolly costumes, books, pictures, signs, crystals for “gluing on and blinging” and wigs.

Kelly was on holiday with her family in Turin when she learned of Dolly’s death from cancer, leaving her “devastated”.

She plans to continue with her shows, “paying respects to Dolly’s genius”, but thinks it will feel “very strange” at first.

Kelly, who is married to Ben Verinder, 52, who runs a PR agency, said: ‘This is quite a shock.

“Dolly was as glamorous on the inside as she was on the outside.

“A hard part of knowing she has gone is the fact that we won’t meet again, but perhaps the hardest part is that a great light has gone out in the world.

“I would not be the person I am today if it wasn’t for Dolly.”

Kelly, who grew up in Australia, began singing country music in her early teens and performed across the world before moving to the UK in 2005.

It was not until a 40th birthday party that Kelly and her husband Ben realised how good her impersonation skills were.

Ben said: “It was a friend’s brother’s 40th birthday party and it was in a lovely hotel in Scotland… and our friend said to Kelly: `Would you, for a laugh, dress up and be Dolly Parton?’

“The feedback from everybody at that gig was so good that Kelly sat and thought: `Hold on a minute’ – and that’s how it started.”

Kelly took out a loan and spent six months in “intensive training”, learning how to make dresses, perfect her makeup skills, play instruments and speak like Dolly.

She began performing at pubs and working men’s clubs and over time became “more and more popular”.

Kelly said she even met Dolly Parton in 2011, which felt “surreal” as they were dressed in almost identical outfits.

Kelly has since performed at the Singapore Grand Prix, on cruise ships and for celebrities.

In 2020, she launched her theatre show, The Dolly Show, and has toured all over the world, including India, Bangladesh, Denmark, the United States and Australia.

In 2025, she said Dolly’s family came to watch one of her shows in Nashville, the United States.

“Afterwards, I met the whole family, and they were just blown away, and they couldn’t believe it,” she said.

“They said: `I don’t know how you talk like her. How do you do the voice so good?’ So it was a huge compliment.

“And while I was there, I also got to go to Dolly Parton enterprises.”

Kelly plays around 50 dates a year and, to mark Dolly turning 80 on January 19 2026, she revamped the act.

She celebrated seven decades of Dolly’s life, with the production “almost” costing Kelly her “life’s savings”.

Kelly has built up a collection of more than 150 costumes over the years and said her house is full of “Dolly paraphernalia”, including books, pictures, signs, costumes, boxes of makeup, crystals for “gluing on and blinging” and wigs.

The news of Dolly Parton’s death was announced by her family on August 25, and her publicist Marcel Pariseau said: “After bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Centre surrounded by loved ones.”

Kelly said she heard the news while at dinner on holiday with her family in Turin.

“I was paying the bill, came back to the table and my family told me to check my phone,” she said.

“Their faces were white as sheets.

“I looked at my phone and already had hundreds of messages.

“I perform in the United States, Australia and across Europe, so they were flooding in from around the world.”

She said having performed as Dolly for 20 years, today is a “very painful day” as she processes the news.

Looking ahead, she thinks it will feel “very strange and odd” to perform as Dolly in the future.

She added: “I have a team of people I work with who depend on me, so I need to put my big girl britches on and walk out on stage as expected.

“It will be a poignant and difficult moment I think.

“I will feel emotional singing and some songs, in particular Little Sparrow, are likely to hit harder.

“I have been hugely fortunate to carve out a long career by emulating and paying respects to her genius.

“I do feel a great responsibility in performing as Dolly in normal circumstances, but now the pressure will be even greater to continue her legacy.”