In March, A Young Dolly Parton Fan Went Viral For His Hilarious Reaction After Seeing The Country Music Icon In Person

The moment occurred when Dolly made a special appearance at her amusement park, Dollywood, to celebrate its 40th anniversary.

The celebration drew a huge crowd, but one young fan managed to steal the spotlight. As Dolly made her way through the park in a decorated carriage, waving to cheering fans, an 8-year-old boy stood out with the top .

In a video that has now gained over 6 million views, he’s seen shouting and jumping with joy at the sight of the “Jolene” singer, even grabbing his face in disbelief.

But what made the moment even better was the fact that Dolly had noticed him. She pointed straight at him while smiling and laughing at the boy’s hilarious reaction.

During a recent interview on the Today Show, Dolly reacted to the viral moment after the hosts played the video for her. The moment was just as entertaining for Dolly watching it back as it was when she first saw the little boy in person that day.

“I remember him in the parade,” she said as she could barely control her laughter. “I was thinking, ‘honey, are you going to have a heart attack and die right here in front of everybody?’”

“It was the sweetest thing. I just wanted to get off that cart and run down and just squeeze him,” she added.

But, for the 79-year-old singer, the moment meant a lot more than just a funny interaction.

She shared that the amount of love she felt from fans that day brought her to tears, especially because she was grieving the loss of her husband of nearly 60 years, Carl Dean , who had passed away less than two weeks earlier.

“But, you know, it’s just great. I ride through the park every day that I can when I’m up here in the afternoon. I got very emotional that day after the parade because there was just so much love like that, and it was, you know, right after I had lost Carl and I was just so bottled up with emotion and I just got into the van and just boo-hooed for the longest time feeling all that love and emotion.” 

Watch Dolly react to the viral video of an 8-year-old seeing her at Dollywood for the first time below.