More than decorating the tree, the Amundson family welcomes the Christmas season by listening to Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers’ classic holiday album Once Upon a Christmas for the first of countless times leading up to the celebration of Christ’s birth.

Released in 1984, the 10-track album and companion television special feature renditions of much-beloved standards like "White Christmas," "Silent Night" and "Winter Wonderland." However, the true gems are the five tunes written by Parton, an artist whose luminous talent dazzled like a "Coat of Many Colors."

On Aug. 25, our world became poorer with the loss of this soulful, deeply authentic woman to cancer. May she rest in peace.

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Throughout her 80 years, Parton embodied the wise servant in the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30).

Akin to the man who sagely took his five talents of gold and put them to work to earn five more, the Tennessean from the Appalachian Mountains honoured her God-given talents for writing and performing music, imbued with timelessness and touching depth, time and time again, during a 60-year career. Honestly, you have to take a step back and marvel at her achievement of writing more than 3,000 songs.

Her five contributions to Once Upon a Christmas exemplify why her discography resonated with generations of fans. All are works of universal relatability and emotional poignancy.

"I Believe in Santa Claus" extols embracing your childlike sense of wonder; "A Christmas to Remember" and "With Bells On" both champion beautifying your holidays by being with your loved ones. Conversely, "Christmas Without You" taps into the emptiness one feels when separated from the people who mean the most to you during the holidays (boy, this will be a difficult listen during the upcoming Christmas season). The fifth and final Parton-penned tune is the most powerful. The title track "Once Upon a Christmas" is a beautiful ballad in homage to the Prince of Peace and the joy the world experienced at the birth of this child of Mary, born “far away in Bethlehem.”

Blessedly, Once Upon a Christmas does not represent an aberration in Parton’s peerless career. There are many examples of her musically venerating Jesus Christ. Her willingness to live and celebrate her faith openly very likely stems from the convictions instilled within her at a young age.

She said in her distinctive pure and simple way in 2016 that “I grew up knowing that Jesus loves me. And I knew that through God all things were possible.”

Thanks to God guiding her heart, mind and pen, Parton has bequeathed her many Christian supporters' gifts to decorate their praise and worship. "The Seeker", "Golden Streets of Glory" and "Heaven’s Just a Prayer Away" are notable examples.

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And her indelible 1989 cover of Christian artist Don Francisco’s 1977 gospel song "He’s Alive" is essential Easter Sunday listening.

The emotional immediacy in her voice transported me back to 2,000 years ago in the immediate aftermath of Christ's crucifixion. She first evokes the despondency the disciples felt after their Master’s death as they awaited a potentially similar fate, then the confusion that came over them as they discovered “the stone's been rolled away, and now His body isn't there.”

Then comes the glorious climax. Her voice soars into happiness describing seeing Christ risen and the love “shining out from Him like sunlight from the skies,” before concluding in her most joyful register to proclaim “He's alive, He's alive, He's alive and I'm forgiven, Heaven's gates are open wide!”

No other song before or since has ever offered such a stirring representation of Easter weekend’s emotional arc.

Perhaps "He’s Alive" was one of the songs some fans listened to first following the announcement of Parton’s death. "Coat of Many Colors," "Jolene," "9 to 5," "Here You Come Again" or "I Will Always Love You" are among her most popular solo singles and would be natural contenders as the go-to remembrance listen. 

My first instinct was "Islands in the Stream," the greatest duet in the history of music. Hey, I’m not alone in that opinion. Country Music Television crowned this 1983 Rogers and Parton classic written by the Bee Gees with that very honour in 2005.

But then I remembered their late-career hidden-gem collaboration "You Can’t Make Old Friends" released in 2013, a song conceived for this exact moment in time. The musical soul partners muse about how they would sing when the other one passes on, and the sadness they each would feel when their old friend can no longer “join in on those harmony parts when I call your name.” They understand “how the show must go on, but you can’t make old friends.”

What they tapped into resonated strongly when Rogers passed away March 20, 2020.

Now in late August 2026, it strikes a different but similarly powerful note.

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The song’s beautiful bridge has become its emotional heart. It begins with Rogers crooning, “When St. Peter opens the gate,” followed by Parton’s “And you come walkin’ in,” before they sing in unison: “I’ll be there just waiting for you, ’cause you can’t make old friends.”

I’d love it if Rogers did indeed extend a hand to his old friend Parton, welcoming her to Heaven. May they perform together again with that special musical and spiritual chemistry, becoming islands in the stream amid heavenly shores.