Jessica Simpson is beyond ecstatic about finally forming a friendship with her longtime idol, Dolly Parton. The two even collaborated on Simpson’s upcoming debut country album.

None thought this would happen, not even Simpson herself, since her first meeting with Parton was a wreck due to the butchering of a tribute at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2006, as she told us:

The very first time that I met Dolly was after I completely tortured ‘9 To 5′at a tribute for her, and I messed the lyrics up. My boyfriend had broken up with me that day. I couldn’t even focus on stage and I was in front of the President and everybody. Afterwards my chin started quivering and I just started crying and then I walked off stage and I said, ‘I will never absolutely never sing again — ever in my life.’

Afterwards Dolly was like, ‘Don’t you let that get you down. I wanna hear you keep singing,’and I was like, ‘I am so sorry,’and she was like, ‘I don’t even want you to apologize. Let’s take a picture and we’ll end up working together some day.’Then she wrote me a letter ’cause all th