Dolly Parton Secretly Enters Drag Bar Lookalike Contest

Dolly Parton Secretly Enters Los Angeles Drag Bar Lookalike Contest—and the Real Dolly Loses to a Man Dressed Exactly Like Her

In a story that has become a celebrated piece of her legend, country music icon Dolly Parton once famously confessed to secretly entering her own lookalike contest—and spectacularly losing. The incident perfectly encapsulates her self-deprecating humor and larger-than-life persona.

The competition took place at a drag queen bar in Los Angeles, where an unauthorized “Dolly Parton lookalike” contest was being held. Parton decided to crash the event. Knowing her signature style—massive blonde wigs, heavy makeup, and glittering rhinestones—she faced a unique challenge in disguising herself as herself. To achieve anonymity among the professional impersonators, she chose to look “overdone,” wearing even more exaggerated makeup and a significantly larger wig than usual.

As she recounted the details, she was intent on flying completely under the radar. “I just kinda over-exaggerated my look,” she explained. “I went on down, and I got in the line and they just thought I was some little short little woman with too much makeup and too much hair.”

The result was a priceless defeat. Despite being the actual source material—the genuine Dolly Parton—she failed to impress the judges and lost the contest, not even making the top three. The ultimate irony was that the winner of the competition was a man dressed as Dolly Parton.

The audience and the judges were reportedly none the wiser, failing entirely to recognize the real star hidden in plain sight. Parton later mused that the crowd must have simply thought she looked like a “really cheap version” of the superstar. Her willingness to sneak into the contest, embrace the spirit of the drag event, and then publicly laugh about her failure only adds another unforgettable layer of charm to her legendary career.