分类： entertainment

Country music has lost its most iconic, groundbreaking queen. Dolly Parton, the multi-hyphenate talent who redefined the genre, shattered gender barriers in a male-dominated industry, and won the hearts of millions across the globe over a six-decade career, passed away Tuesday at the age of 80.

Born in January 1946 in Sevierville, Tennessee, Parton grew up the fourth of 12 children in a dirt-poor shack tucked in the Great Smoky Mountains. It was in those rural hills that her extraordinary gift first emerged: by age 10, she was already penning raw, deeply emotional tracks about heartbreak and tragedy, and she made her legendary debut on the Grand Ole Opry stage at just 13. The day after she graduated high school, she packed her bags and headed straight for Nashville, the heart of country music, to chase her dream.

By 21, Parton was a household name, after joining Porter Wagoner’s nationally syndicated country television show that brought her voice and one-of-a-kind persona into millions of American living rooms. Over the course of her unmatched career, she released 49 studio albums, notched 26 number-one country hits, sold more than 100 million records worldwide, and earned more chart-topping placements than any other woman in country music history. She took the pop world by storm too, with hits like *Islands in the Stream*, and parlayed her fame into a successful Hollywood acting career, starring in blockbuster films 9 to 5 and Steel Magnolias, even penning the iconic Grammy-winning title track for the former.

Critics long lauded Parton’s distinctive soprano, describing its signature cracked vibrato and ability to shift from a ringing clarity to a soft, wounded whisper as “a dose of mountain purity.” By her own count, she wrote more than 3,000 songs, including two of the most enduring tracks in modern music: the 1973 classic *Jolene*, and the tender ballad *I Will Always Love You*, originally written as a farewell to Wagoner when the pair parted professional ways. The song became a global phenomenon when Whitney Houston recorded it for 1992’s *The Bodyguard*, turning it into one of the best-selling singles of all time. Famously, Parton turned down Elvis Presley’s request to cover the track when he demanded half the song’s publishing rights—Parton retained full ownership of all her work, a savvy business move that set her apart from many artists of her era.

Parton’s larger-than-life persona was impossible to miss: her gravity-defying wigs, bold makeup, and iconic hourglass figure became defining parts of her brand, and critics and fans often initially dismissed her as a ditzy blonde playing up her looks for attention. But that misreading completely missed Parton’s deliberate, brilliant strategy to upend sexism in the music industry. Instead of pushing back against expectations by abandoning her flashy, feminine style, she leaned into it on her own terms, combining her homespun charm with shrewd business acumen to build a multi-million dollar entertainment empire. In 1986, she opened the Dollywood theme park in her home state of Tennessee, which grew into one of the most successful celebrity branding projects in American entertainment history, drawing millions of visitors annually. She went on to launch publishing houses, production companies, a radio station, a line of restaurants, a best-selling novel co-written with James Patterson, and even her own fragrance at age 75, building an enduring legacy far beyond her music.

As Rolling Stone editor David Wild once put it: “She may lead with the boobs but she has the talent to back it all up.”

Offstage, Parton was equally celebrated for her generous philanthropy and commitment to public good. In 2020, she donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, funding research that ultimately supported the development of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Her childhood literacy program has distributed more than 100 million free books to children in need around the world. She was a vocal ally to marginalized communities, and remained a beloved cultural figure well into her later years, boasting 8.6 million Instagram followers in the final years of her life.

Over her career, Parton earned some of the nation’s highest honors for the arts, including a 2006 Kennedy Center Honor, and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022—an honor she initially turned down, saying she saw herself as strictly a country artist. Famously, she declined the Presidential Medal of Freedom from former President Donald Trump in 2021, citing concerns about travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, and once humbly said she was unsure she even deserved the accolade.

Parton was married to Carl Thomas Dean from 1966 until his death in 2023; Dean stayed out of the public spotlight for the entirety of their marriage, and Parton famously brushed off endless rumors of extramarital affairs with characteristic wit. When asked by late night host Jay Leno about rumors of dalliances with her co-stars like Sylvester Stallone, she grinned and replied: “I didn’t say I was dead, I said I was married.”

To the end, Parton remained proud of her identity, her unapologetic style, and her trailblazing career. “I love makeup, I love clothes, and I got the personality that can pull it off,” she told National Public Radio in 2001. What began as a childhood singing to chickens outside a Tennessee mountain cabin grew into a legacy that redefined country music, paved the way for generations of female artists, and cemented her status as a one-of-a-kind American treasure.

One of Australia’s most high-profile radio personalities has made explosive new claims in an ongoing workplace lawsuit, alleging that years of toxic and unpredictable treatment at the hands of her long-time on-air co-host left her with a diagnosable case of post-traumatic stress disorder.

In a sworn affidavit filed this week with Australia’s Federal Court and made public Tuesday, Jackie “O” Henderson has detailed allegations of persistent workplace bullying against her former KIIS FM co-host Kyle Sandilands, leveling claims against the major radio network ARN, the parent company of KIIS FM, for failing to intervene and protect her from ongoing harm.

The legal filing, which marks Henderson’s first formal public account of the breakdown of her professional partnership with Sandilands, includes expert medical testimony from two psychologists that corroborate her claim that repeated belittling and erratic behavior from Sandilands, compounded by ARN’s inaction, led to her PTSD diagnosis.

Henderson’s account traces the shift in her working relationship back to around 2023, when what she described as once light-hearted on-air banter gradually shifted into what she calls targeted, regular humiliation. “I did not know from day to day whether Mr Sandilands and [his manager] Mr Bouchet would be supportive of me or against me,” Henderson wrote in her sworn statement. “Their behaviour was unpredictable and erratic. I often drove to work with a low level sense of anxiety and dread, which caused me to feel worn down over time. The cumulative effect was that I felt emotionally unsafe in the workplace, even during periods where the relationship appeared outwardly positive.”

The situation boiled over into a public on-air incident in February 2024, when Sandilands launched a harsh criticism of Henderson’s work ethic and commitment on live radio that left her in tears. In the aftermath of the incident, Henderson notified ARN management that she could no longer continue working alongside Sandilands, while ARN ruled Sandilands’ conduct constituted serious misconduct.

The network subsequently terminated both hosts’ contracts. Sandilands filed an immediate breach of contract suit against ARN and ultimately reached a $12 million out-of-court settlement with the company. Henderson, by contrast, launched her own suit against the network alleging breach of workplace rights and a misleading statement issued to the Australian Stock Exchange regarding her departure. She is seeking a minimum of $82.25 million in damages in her ongoing case.

Crucially, Sandilands and his long-time manager Bruno Bouchet are not named as formal parties to Henderson’s current Federal Court suit, even as her claims center on the harm she alleges their behavior caused. Dr Jonathan Phillips, an expert consulted for Henderson’s case, outlined the three contributing factors to her PTSD diagnosis: ongoing bullying by Sandilands, ARN’s failure to provide adequate care and protection, and the publication of the network’s controversial ASX statement about her exit. A second medical assessment from Dr Emma Agnew echoed that conclusion, noting that repeated public belittling, paired with a lack of organizational support, contributed to a measurable decline in Henderson’s emotional wellbeing.

Henderson’s lawsuit remains ongoing, and this week’s newly filed affidavit forms a core part of her legal case against ARN. No trial date has been announced as of yet, and the case continues to unfold in Australia’s federal court system.

In a landmark decision reshaping the global music industry’s approach to artificial intelligence, Australia’s official music chart body has introduced strict new rules barring largely or fully AI-created songs from eligibility for its rankings, effective this week.

The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) announced that all tracks submitted for chart consideration must now meet a “substantially human made” requirement, a policy crafted to protect the core human element of artistic creation amid an explosion of AI-generated music content. The change comes in direct response to a high-profile controversy that rocked Australia’s music scene earlier this year, when an AI-assisted cover of Madonna’s iconic *Like A Prayer* from Australian DJ Josh Fawaz climbed to second place on the national overall singles chart and topped the ARIA dance chart. The track gained massive traction, racking up more than 48 million streams on Spotify alone and earning regular spins on major commercial radio playlists, before Fawaz was forced to add clear generative AI credits to the release following widespread public backlash.

ARIA officials emphasized that the new rules do not amount to a full ban on all AI use in music creation. The policy permits AI to act as a assisting tool: creators may still leverage AI for audio mastering, use AI-powered drum machines, or rely on auto-tune and other digital production aids. To qualify for the charts, however, humans must retain core creative roles: writing the full song composition, performing the lead vocals, and playing the primary instruments featured on the track.

Australia is not the first territory to restrict AI-generated music from official charts. Earlier this year, a fully AI-created track was blocked from eligibility in Sweden’s national rankings. In July, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the global body representing the recorded music industry, announced that it would roll out unified AI guidelines for official charts across Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia. ARIA’s updated policy is aligned with this global IFPI framework, and also adds an extra provision excluding tracks flagged for stream or chart manipulation.

“These changes reflect our intent to remain dynamic and promote the human nature of artistry in what is, to say the least, a rapidly developing space,” said Annabelle Herd, ARIA’s Chief Executive Officer. She clarified that the rule acknowledges the already widespread use of AI tools by working artists, and charts are intended to evolve to accommodate legitimate innovation: “Artists already use AI tools in their work, the charts can and should evolve to keep room for that, but music generated wholesale by services built on artists’ recordings is a different matter.” Herd added that rewarding unlicensed AI-generated music would undermine the entire foundation of the recorded music industry ARIA exists to represent.

Under the new compliance process, all artists submitting tracks for chart consideration must explicitly disclose any use of AI in their creative work. If ARIA later discovers that a charting track is substantially AI-generated without proper disclosure, the organization reserves the right to retroactively adjust the track’s chart position, and in cases where the track reached number one, it can demand the return of any number one achievement awards. Artists who are excluded from the charts under the new policy also retain the right to appeal the decision.

The new rule has earned support from prominent Australian artists, including popular electronic duo Peking Duk. Last month, the group went viral after sharing an AI-assisted re-recording of their 2014 breakout hit *High* on Instagram, with a sarcastic caption reading: “When you re-record your own song with AI so Australian radio will play it.” Band member Adam Hyde told Channel Nine’s *Today* show that fully AI-generated music erodes a core part of human connection, saying it is “removing the human experience from life.”

The policy change also aligns with the Australian federal government’s previous commitments to protecting creative workers from unregulated AI. In July 2023, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised “the strongest possible protection” for Australian creators from unethical AI use, pledging that writers and musicians would get the right to choose whether and how their work is used to train AI models. Albanese noted that denying creators this control and failing to compensate them for their work’s use in AI training amounts to theft.

In a landmark move to safeguard the core human creativity at the heart of music, Australia’s peak music industry body has officially implemented new rules barring wholly artificial intelligence-generated tracks from the country’s leading music charts. The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) announced the policy update on Tuesday, with the new guidelines set to take full effect this coming Friday.

Under the revised framework, only music that is substantially created by human artists is eligible for inclusion on the ARIA Charts, the country’s most influential ranking of popular music. The rules specifically exclude any tracks that rely on generative AI to produce the entire work or the majority of its core creative components, including lyrics, composition, and primary vocal performance. Crucially, the policy does not ban all AI use in music: recordings that leverage generative AI as a supporting tool for processes like mixing, mastering, or minor creative assistance still retain their eligibility for chart placement.

The regulatory change comes amid a rapidly growing wave of concern across the global music industry over the explosive rise of unregulated AI-generated music flooding streaming platforms and airwaves. The catalyst for Australia’s new policy came in July this year, when an AI-generated cover of Madonna’s iconic hit *Like a Prayer* climbed to the top of Australian music charts, triggering widespread industry scrutiny after the use of AI-generated vocals and percussion was revealed to the public.

Data from major streaming platforms underscores the scale of the AI shift in the industry: a senior Apple Music executive confirmed earlier this year that more than one-third of all new tracks uploaded to the platform are created entirely using generative AI. Global industry players have already begun moving to address the trend: streaming giant Spotify has announced plans to introduce a dedicated “AI Persona” badge that will clearly label AI-generated content created to mimic real human artists, helping listeners distinguish between human-made and AI work.

Just months before ARIA’s policy update, a coalition of major global music industry organizations unveiled a proposed universal labelling framework for AI-generated content, calling for widespread adoption across all platforms to bring transparency to the rapidly evolving space. ARIA chief executive Annabelle Herd framed the new chart rules as a deliberate defense of artistic authenticity in a fast-changing digital landscape.

“These changes reflect our intent to remain dynamic and promote the human nature of artistry in what is — to say the least — a rapidly developing space,” Herd said. She added that the ARIA Charts have always maintained a mission to serve as a transparent, accurate measure of the music that Australian audiences consume, and allowing unlicensed AI output to compete on the charts would undermine the core purpose of the organization, which exists to support and represent human-created recorded music.