Dolly Parton talks Blue Smoke, gay fans, and Willie Nelson

Dolly Parton talks to Billboard about her genre-spanning album "Blue Smoke", her gay fans, and Willie Nelson's "Dork" Days.

On large following in the LGBT community:
"I think they definitely relate to my flamboyance. I've always been so outgoing.
But, I think more than anything, everybody realizes I've been through a lot myself. I've been persecuted for looking the way I looked in the early days, for saying what I think and feel. They know I understand what it's like to be me, and to fight for being myself."

On Willie Nelson's "dork" days:
"I think Willie is one of the most unusual people. People don't realize how intelligent and deep he is, and what a great stylist and musician. I met him when I first came to Nashville. We came here at about the same time. He had short hair, shaved, looked just like a dork. You'd never in a million years think he would have turned out to look like he does.

On "Blue Smoke":
"I don't usually get played on the radio so much anymore. So, I don't really try to tailor make things for radio. I try to do things that I think my fans would want to hear, and things that mean something to me.