Dolly Parton’s Climate Change Anthem “World on Fire”

The late Dolly Parton, country music’s most famous icon, sang about how the earth was burning up due to climate change. Her song World On Fire is a stark look at how climate change has drastically impacted her home state of Tennessee, especially the Smoky Mountains where she grew up.

“World On Fire” was on Parton’s first rock and roll album, Rockstar, which received a Gold certification from the RIAA (The Recording Industry Association of America ) on March 12, 2024. Her lyrics dramatically expose her frustration with how little effort was addressing  climate change, especially earth’s warming:

Liar, liar the world’s on fire

 Whatcha gonna do when it all burns down?

Fire, fire burning higher

 Still got time to turn it all around.

Although Parton mostly stayed out of politics, extreme weather events in Tennessee were difficult for her to ignore. The region’s catastrophic 2016 Great Smoky Mountains Wildfires, caused by warmer temperatures and the climate-driven drought, claimed 14 lives and burned down over 17,000 acres. The tragic loss and devastation prompted Parton to establish her famous My People Fund to provide millions of displaced local families with direct financial aid.

In 2022 severe wildfires broke out in Sevier County, Tennessee, burning near Dollywood and Dolly Parton’s hometown of Sevierville. In the aftermath Parton posted a heartfelt message to Instagram to those affected by the wildfires saying “It looks scary on TV, but I’m proud of how everyone in the area has pulled together like they always do,” she wrote. “I know there are some folks who have been affected, and I hope that you will join me in saying a prayer for them.”

More recently in July, 2026 heavy downpours in the Great Smoky Mountain region caused severe flooding and multiple mudslides, crippling many communities.  Especially hit hard was Del Rio, about 45 minutes from Dollywood in Pigeon Forge. Months before Tennessee saw widespread, climate-driven drought fueling wildfires that burned 2,498 acres in the Smoky Mountain region.

In a 2022 interview with National Geographic, Parton spoke of her deep passion for Tennessee’s mountains, forests and wild life, advocating for more protections for the Smokies.

“We should pay more attention,” Parton said. “We’re just mistreating Mother Nature — that’s like being ugly to your mama. … We need to take better care of the things that God gave us freely. And that we’re so freely messing up.”

Image: https://www.dollydiscography.com/world-on-fire.html