Before ‘Let It Be,’ Dolly Parton’s Meetings With Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr Produced Two Unforgettable Stories

When Dolly Parton finally recorded “Let It Be” with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr for her 2023 album Rockstar, it sounded like a once-in-a-lifetime collision of two musical worlds: Nashville’s country queen joining forces with the two surviving Beatles.

But their history actually stretched back decades.

Long before the three stars entered the same musical orbit for Rockstar, Parton had already crossed paths separately with McCartney and Starr during the 1970s. And remarkably, neither encounter was memorable simply because she had met a Beatle.

One occurred at a pivotal moment in her partnership with Porter Wagoner. The other turned into an elaborate practical joke at a private Los Angeles dinner.

Together, the stories reveal another side of Parton — a lifelong Beatles admirer who could be awed by music legends while still possessing enough mischief to completely steal the evening.

Dolly Simply Asked Paul and Ringo to Join Her

By the time Parton began assembling Rockstar, she had more than enough stature to contact virtually any musician she wanted.

Still, her approach to McCartney and Starr was surprisingly straightforward.

“I just sent them a love note through their managers, and I just said what I was doing,” she told NPR in 2023.

Parton explained that she did not want either musician to feel pressured, so she gave them an easy way to decline.

“I didn’t want to put you on the spot,” she recalled telling them, “but I’d love to have you sing with me on my rock album. And if you’re interested, call me at this number.”

Parton had already recorded “Let It Be” when she decided to approach McCartney.

“And so I contacted him,” she recalled. “He was so gracious.”

Once McCartney agreed, another thought quickly followed.

“Well, we got to have Ringo, because that’s the last of the Beatles.”

So she contacted Starr as well.

His response, according to Dolly, was equally uncomplicated: “I’d be glad to do it.”

The resulting recording featured McCartney and Starr alongside Parton, with Peter Frampton and Mick Fleetwood also contributing. It became one of Rockstar’s most attention-grabbing collaborations.

Yet it was far from Dolly’s first encounter with either former Beatle.

Paul McCartney Met Dolly During a Pivotal Week in Her Career

Parton’s first meeting with McCartney took place on June 16, 1974, at Opryland in Nashville.

McCartney was in Tennessee with his wife Linda and their family for an extended six-week stay. During that period, Wings recorded several tracks in Nashville, including “Junior’s Farm,” which would become a major hit.

While there, Paul and Linda attended the Grand Masters Fiddling Contest at Opryland.

During intermission, they were invited backstage.

Waiting there were Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner.

Photographer Jack Corn captured the meeting for The Tennessean, preserving an extraordinary crossover between British rock royalty and two major figures in Nashville country music.

But for Parton, the timing carried an additional significance.

Her Partnership With Porter Wagoner Was Ending

Parton had joined Wagoner’s television show in 1967, beginning a professional partnership that transformed her career.

They became a popular country duo, but by the early 1970s, Parton was determined to establish herself independently.

Just one week before meeting Paul and Linda McCartney, Parton and Wagoner had performed what was then their final concert as a duo, on June 9, 1974.

The emotional separation from Wagoner had already inspired one of the most important songs Parton would ever write.

Rather than leaving her mentor with bitterness, Dolly expressed her gratitude through “I Will Always Love You,” a song written as a farewell to Wagoner and an acknowledgment of everything he had done for her career.

That meant the photograph of Dolly, Wagoner and the McCartneys captured more than a fascinating meeting between famous musicians.

It also documented Parton at a turning point — closing one chapter of her career just as her independent future was beginning to take shape.

Years later, another former Beatle would enter her life under completely different circumstances.

Ringo Starr Was Apparently Eager to Meet Dolly

By the late 1970s, former Beatles Apple Records executive Ken Mansfield was working to bring more Nashville artists into the Los Angeles music scene.

Mansfield, a producer and former U.S. manager for Apple Records, had connections on both sides of the rock-country divide.

Artists including Waylon Jennings and Parton were among the Nashville figures spending time on the West Coast.

Ringo Starr, meanwhile, had established himself in Los Angeles and remained friendly with Mansfield.

Starr’s enthusiasm for country music was hardly a secret. In fact, his affection for the genre stretched back to his Beatles years and was reflected in his 1970 country album Beaucoups of Blues.

According to Mansfield’s 2007 memoir, The White Book, Starr became particularly interested in meeting Parton.

“He was very intrigued by Dolly’s career,” Mansfield wrote.

Dolly apparently felt the same excitement from the opposite direction.

Mansfield remembered her as “a giant Beatles fan” who knew about his history with the group and had jokingly told him that she would someday love to meet the Beatles — “Ringo in particular.”

Mansfield eventually realized he could make it happen.

Neither Dolly Nor Ringo Knew Who Was Coming to Dinner

Rather than stage a formal introduction, Mansfield arranged a small dinner at his home.

Parton was invited.

So was Starr.

There was just one important detail: neither knew the other would be there.

“Both invitees were thrilled at the surprise,” Mansfield later recalled.

Keeping the gathering small was deliberate. Mansfield wanted Dolly and Ringo to have the opportunity to talk without the evening becoming a crowded celebrity event.

“The intimacy of the evening really made the whole thing very special,” he wrote.

Everything apparently went according to plan — until producer Stewart Levine decided he wanted in.

An Uninvited Guest Crashed the Party

Levine was an accomplished producer who would work with artists including Simply Red, B.B. King, Lionel Richie, Sly Stone, Patti LaBelle and Joe Cocker.

He was also an enormous Dolly Parton fan.

Once Levine learned about the dinner, he desperately wanted an invitation.

Mansfield refused.

The entire point, he explained, was “to keep the focus on just Ringo and Dolly spending time together.”

Levine was apparently unwilling to accept that answer.

Shortly after dinner, Mansfield’s doorbell rang.

Levine was standing outside.

According to Mansfield’s account, the producer pushed his way into the house, triggering a loud confrontation between the two men in the hallway.

Then Dolly appeared.

And everything changed.

Dolly Stopped and Stared at Him

Parton emerged from the other room and apparently froze when she saw Levine.

Mansfield remembered her staring at the producer with wide eyes.

There was a long, uncomfortable pause.

Then Dolly began speaking.

In what Mansfield described as a shaky, stuttering voice, she asked whether the man standing in front of her was really Stewart Levine — the famous producer.

Levine confirmed that he was.

What followed left him almost unable to respond.

According to Mansfield, Dolly began telling Levine that she could barely believe she was finally standing in the same room with him.

“She continued to explain that in her lifetime she never expected that she would ever get the chance to be in the same room with Stewart Levine, let alone have the privilege of meeting him,” Mansfield wrote.

She supposedly told Levine she was a huge admirer and had adored him from afar for a long time.

For a man who had forced his way into the party specifically because he was desperate to meet Dolly Parton, it must have sounded almost impossibly good.

Then Dolly took it much further.

Dolly Delivered the Line That Left Everyone Speechless

According to Mansfield, Parton announced that she needed to leave immediately because she feared she might no longer be able to control herself around Levine.

Mansfield recalled Dolly dramatically suggesting she might “jump his bones right in front of everyone” if she remained there.

Then she abruptly turned around and disappeared back into the living room.

Silence followed.

Mansfield remembered the men standing in the hallway speechless, attempting to understand what had just happened.

Eventually, they returned to the rest of the party.

The moment they walked into the room, everyone started laughing.

Levine had been set up.

Dolly Had Been Playing Him the Entire Time

While Mansfield and Levine were arguing at the door, Mansfield’s wife had apparently told Dolly what was really happening.

Levine, she explained, was infatuated with Parton and had been desperate to meet her.

Dolly immediately saw an opportunity.

Instead of simply introducing herself, she decided to make Levine believe the obsession was mutual.

The trembling voice, starstruck expression and declaration of overwhelming attraction had all been part of the performance.

“I think Stewart was so stunned by what had gone down that he wasn’t even the least bit disappointed that Dolly didn’t really have the hots for him,” Mansfield recalled.

It was an elaborate prank delivered with such conviction that an accomplished record producer apparently believed, at least momentarily, that Dolly Parton had been secretly longing to meet him.

And somewhere in the middle of all that chaos was Ringo Starr — the Beatle Dolly had originally been so excited to meet.

Two Beatles, Two Very Different Dolly Parton Stories

The irony is difficult to miss.

Parton’s 1974 meeting with McCartney happened at an extraordinary moment in her own career, just as her professional partnership with Wagoner was coming to an end.

Her later introduction to Starr was supposed to be the centerpiece of an intimate celebrity dinner, only for Dolly’s sense of humor to produce the story everyone would remember.

Decades passed before those separate relationships finally converged musically.

When Parton assembled Rockstar, she reached out to McCartney and Starr and brought them together for “Let It Be.”

The collaboration carried obvious historical weight: one of America’s most celebrated country singer-songwriters performing a Beatles classic with two of the men who created it.

But behind that recording was a much longer history.

Dolly had met McCartney while standing beside the musical partner she was preparing to leave behind. She met Starr at a surprise dinner that she somehow transformed into an unforgettable prank on somebody else.

Then, nearly half a century later, she called them up and asked whether they wanted to make a record together.

Both said yes.