Dolly Parton pays emotional tribute to uncle Bill Owens: “I wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t been there”
Dolly Parton has paid an emotional tribute to her uncle and mentor, the country songwriter Bill Owens, following his death at the age of 85.“I’ve lost my beloved Uncle Bill Owens. I knew my heart would break when he passed, and it did,” she wrote on Instagram.Parton said told fans “I wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t been there”, before explaining how he had shaped her early career.“He was there… there in my young years to encourage me to keep playing my guitar, to keep writing my songs, to keep practicing my singing,” she said.“And he was there to help build my confidence standing on stage where he was always standing behind me or close beside me with his big ol’ red Gretsch guitar.