The 1976 case sought a $2,250 balance and $1,000 in attorney’s fees after two Texas performances.
WACO, Texas — A nearly 50-year-old lawsuit retrieved from archived court records shows country music star Dolly Parton sued a Waco radio company in 1976 after alleging she was not paid the full amount promised for two performances at the former Heart O’ Texas Coliseum.
The lawsuit, recently obtained by KWTX after district clerk personnel retrieved the file from archival storage, centered on a $4,500 performance contract. Records reviewed by the station showed that Parton and Top Billing Inc., a Nashville talent and booking agency, sued Waco Radio Inc., which did business as KHOO Radio. The filing alleged that $2,250 remained unpaid after Parton completed her appearances.
Parton was 30 when she brought her show to the Heart O’ Texas Coliseum on April 9, 1976. The contract called for two performances and required half of the $4,500 fee, or $2,250, to be deposited into her account about a month before the engagement. The remaining $2,250 was due after the performances, according to KWTX’s review of the contract.
The court file includes the contract bearing Parton’s signature and lists a Nashville post office box as her address. When the remaining payment was not made as required, Parton and Top Billing filed suit in Waco’s 74th State District Court. In addition to the unpaid balance, the lawsuit sought $1,000 in attorney’s fees.
Retired Waco attorney Paul Hubbard is named as Parton’s attorney in the filing. Hubbard told KWTX that he had no independent memory of filing the lawsuit or representing Parton and her booking agency. He also said he did not recall ever meeting the singer. The decades-old case was among records that had remained in archived storage until they were retrieved for the recent report.
The contract contained other requirements for Parton’s Waco appearances. According to the archived documents, her agency required adequate police protection and at least one uniformed security officer assigned to her during the show. Another provision required the radio company to provide a piano in good condition and tuned to A-440 pitch within 24 hours of the performance.
What ultimately happened to the lawsuit is unclear. The archived file reviewed by KWTX does not contain a case disposition or a final order from a judge. Without those records, it cannot be confirmed whether the disputed payment was later made, the parties reached a settlement, the claim was dropped or the case ended another way.
The dispute apparently did not keep Parton away from Waco. KWTX reported that she returned to the city on Jan. 10, 1977, when she opened for Willie Nelson at the Waco Civic Center, now known as the Waco Convention Center. That appearance came less than a year after the performances that led to the contract dispute.
The 1976 engagement also came during a major period in Parton’s career. She had left Porter Wagoner’s television show in 1974 and was establishing herself as a major solo performer. Her songs from that period included “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You,” and she won the Country Music Association’s female vocalist of the year award in both 1975 and 1976.
The Waco lawsuit resurfaced as communities and music fans revisited Parton’s long career following her death Aug. 25 at age 80. Her publicist said Parton died in Nashville after a brief battle with cancer. Over a career spanning decades, she became one of country music’s most recognized singers and songwriters as well as a businesswoman and philanthropist.
The surviving court file provides a detailed record of the payment dispute but no verified account of its resolution. Unless additional court documents or records are located, the final outcome of Parton’s 1976 lawsuit against the Waco radio company remains unknown.
Author note: Last updated August 31, 2026.