Echo Comment following the death of global star Dolly Parton

However, she was more than a country star in a big blonde wig.

Indeed, Dolly herself was as mocking of her appearance as anyone, with lines like “it costs a lot to look this cheap”.

But it was her music that spoke volumes.

While some in Britain might find Jolene too much of a country cliché, her lyrics in many of her 3,000 songs are powerful and emotional.

9 to 5, for instance, is about ordinary life and ordinary workplace sexism, while Coat of Many Colours is about poverty and pride.

And then I Will Always Love You is an extraordinary song of commitment and break-up, an immense rollercoaster that has made it such a wide favourite, particularly in the way she sang it into 1972 without the histrionics of Whitney Houston who made it a global hit in 1992.

This song shows Dolly’s remarkable ability to cross borders, break down barriers and unite people.

Donald Trump has paid tribute to her even though she was a real LGBTQ+ icon.

But beyond all this, beyond her sassy image and her savvy business brain, she had great heart.

She used her success to become a true philanthropist.

Her Imagination Library, started in 1995 and inspired by her father’s inability to read, is fantastic.

It has distributed 300m books to children aged under five, including six million here in the UK, of which 15,700 have gone to 3,000 who have been born in Newcastle since last year.

From Tennessee to Tyneside – what an extraordinary reach by a great star and a remarkable human being.