An academic poll has found that Dolly Parton is the most popular public figure in the US today.
According to a national survey of American adults conducted by the University of Massachusetts Lowell, the country music icon fared more favorably than any of the other suggested figures, including all of the country’s major political players.
Parton sits on an impressive +65 rating, comfortably ahead of Taylor Swift, who only just scores a positive rating with a +3. Donald Trump, meanwhile, scores a lowly –18, just one point above Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu, who both sit on –19.
Other figures with a positive rating include Barack Obama (+14), Volodymyr Zelenskyy (+13), Bernie Sanders (+6) and George W. Bush (+5), while many of the potential presidential candidates for the next election are in the negative zone: Marco Rubio (-3), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (-6), JD Vance (-10), Gavin Newsom (-14) and Tucker Carlson (-21). The lowest score, however, was reserved for Vladimir Putin, who scored a measly –65.
UMass Lowell: Favorability of Public Figures
🟢 Dolly Parton: (+65)
🟢 Barack Obama: (+14)
🟢 Volodymyr Zelenskyy: (+13)
🟢 Bernie Sanders: (+6)
🟢 George W. Bush: (+5)
🟢 Taylor Swift: (+3)
——
🟤 Marco Rubio: (-3)
🟤 AOC: (-6)
🟤 John Thune: (-8)
🟤 Kamala Harris: (-11)
🟤 JD… pic.twitter.com/l5IxQdyW8W— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) April 9, 2026
Last month, Parton made her first public appearance of 2026 and shared a health update with fans, after her sister inadvertently raised rumours of her ill health last October.
She reassured fans and shared she had been facing several “health challenges” which forced her to cancel her Las Vegas residency.
“I just kind of got worn down and worn out, grieving over Carl and a lot of other little things going on,” she added, noting the loss of her husband Carl Dean, who she was married to for 58 years before his death last March.
“I just got myself kind of where I needed to build myself back up spiritually, emotionally, and physically. But, all is good. It didn’t slow me down.”
Following his passing, the country star previously said that she had put working on new songs “on hold” to cope with the loss but she has since been busy.
She continued: “I’ve just been doing a lot of writing, a lot of thinking, a lot of praying and a lot of getting ready for a lot of new stuff coming up for the rest of this whole year. So, be ready for me. I ain’t done, I ain’t near done.”
She also recently made a “transformational” donation to a children’s hospital in Tennessee that the institution said was “beyond our wildest expectations”.