Pictures: Victoria Blackie
Kelly O’Brien has been paying homage to her favourite country singer for more than 15 years, but the Dolly Parton lookalike has been a fan of her music for much longer.
“My parents would play her records in the evenings and I’d fall asleep to her songs,” Kelly, 50, tells Woman’s Day. “I think her melodies must have seeped into my brain without me realising it!”
At eight, she had decided on a future career, thanks to seeing young stars Kylie and Dannii Minogue on TV.
“I thought, ‘That’s what I want to do with my life.’ My parents were encouraging and by 14, I was singing country music in competitions,” says Kelly, who grew up in McLaren Vale, South Australia.
As a young adult, Kelly moved to Sydney and started getting roles in small theatre productions, when she saw another possible outlet for her talents.
“I kept noticing ads for these big talent competitions with huge cash prizes and I decided to enter,” she explains.
“In just four minutes, I portrayed Dolly Parton, Judy Garland, Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue. I ended up coming fourth and winning $20,000!”
Afterwards, people raved about Kelly’s performance and how they loved her Dolly impersonation most of all.
“From then on, I entered lots more talent competitions singing as Dolly, and recreating her glam look with a big blonde wig and a sparkly dress,” she says.
By the early 2000s, Kelly was living in London and a single mum to Oscar. It was tricky finding jobs that would fit around childcare, but then a friend who worked as an entertainment booking agent asked if Kelly wanted to work as a Dolly tribute act for a birthday party.
“Up until that point, I’d only entered talent competitions as Dolly,” she says. “This sounded perfect, although it was terrifying because I had to memorise all the lyrics, as well as try to mimic Dolly’s accent.
“Despite my initial nerves and my terrible wig, I loved the experience.”
It was then that Kelly decided Dolly was her future and for the next four months, she studied the Queen of Country full-time.
“I researched everything about Dolly – her voice, her mannerisms and even the way she moved,” explains Kelly.
She took out a bank loan to buy high-quality wigs and costumes “to do Dolly justice”, and perfected her “Dolly-isms”. By then, she was married to second husband Ben, 50, and the work soon started pouring in. She performed at parties, corporate events, gay pride events, gigs on cruise ships and even at the Singapore Grand Prix.
“In June 2011, I gave birth to my daughter Amber and Ben became the primary carer for the kids. He also helped me manage the business side of things,” she tells. “He and the kids would often travel with me and we visited lots of amazing places.”
In 2021, she launched The Dolly Show, a touring theatre production with a live band that charts Dolly’s life and music from the 1960s through six decades, performing all the fan favourites, along with lesser-known gems.
Dolly herself still releases music at 78. So, Kelly has plenty of material to draw from and never gets tired of transforming into the country star.
She laughs, “Dolly famously once said, ‘It costs a lot of money to look this cheap!’ Well, she’s not lying!
“My makeup routine takes a full two hours. I’ve got six wig and outfit changes, as well as my instruments, including two guitars and a sparkly microphone.”
Kelly met the legend herself in 2011 backstage in London when Dolly performed there.
“My agent had contacted her management requesting we meet and they happily arranged it. I was dressed as Dolly, and she was as sweet and genuine as I had hoped she would be. People know her for her good humour and she seemed genuinely touched by the work I do, saying, ‘I love all my impersonators.’”
Kelly hopes to meet Dolly again after being invited to Dollywood, the superstar’s Tennessee theme park. She plans to take, Ben, Oscar, 20, and Amber, 13, along too.
“Ben has been my rock throughout, and he and the kids are proud of me,” she smiles. “However, Amber does find it a bit embarrassing that her friends follow me on TikTok. Sometimes I catch her singing Dolly’s tunes around the house – although she insists that she’s not a fan!”
Keep up to date with Kelly’s latest performances on her Instagram page.
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