Dolly Parton reveals she twice turned down Donald Trump's Presidential Medal of Freedom

A number of scheduling conflicts mean the country star is still without the prestigious accolade

Country Music Hall of Fame legend and multi-Grammy winner Dolly Parton has not yet accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom. AP

She has a string of awards and accolades to her name, but there is one prize Dolly Parton has not yet accepted, though she says she has been offered it on more than one occasion.

The US singer-songwriter has revealed she has twice turned down offers to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honour.

The accolade was offered to Parton, 75, by the administration of former US president Donald Trump, though the Jolene star revealed she declined the offer for reasons other than politics.

"I couldn't accept it because my husband was ill and then they asked me again about it and I wouldn't travel because of Covid-19," she told The Today Show this week.

Parton already has 10 Grammy Awards, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and Tony, Emmy and Academy Award nominations.

The multitalented star added that the administration of President Joe Biden had also been in touch about the Presidential Medal of Freedom, though told show host Hoda Kotb, "now I feel like if I take it, I'll be doing politics, so I'm not sure".

"I don't work for those awards," Parton added. "It'd be nice, but I'm not sure that I even deserve it. But it's a nice compliment for people to think that I might deserve it."

The 9-5 singer isn't just a star of the airwaves, having made headlines for her various philanthropic efforts over the years.

Last November, she was lauded for her $1 million donation towards the development of the Moderna vaccine.

Parton is the founder of the Imagination Library, a programme that gifts monthly books to children until they are 5. In February 2018, she donated her 100 millionth free book.

The singer and actress has also worked with a number of other foundations supporting unemployed people in America, has raised money for Aids and HIV causes, and helped preserve the bald eagle.

Last year, former president Barack Obama revealed his regret at not giving Parton the Medal of Freedom during his tenure.

"That's a mistake. I'm shocked. That was a screw-up," he told chat show host Stephen Colbert in December. "I think I assumed that she'd already got one and that was incorrect. I'm surprised, she deserves one."

Should she accept it, Parton would join the likes of Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder and Gloria Estefan as a musician who holds the hallowed medal.