Song Story: Daddy’s Hands

In celebration of Father’s Day, I wanted to take a look at this beautiful song.

                Holly Dunn wrote the song in honor of her father.  She stated in writing the song as a gift to her father she “tapped into a well of emotion.”

                She released the song in August 1986 on her album Holly Dunn.  The song was her fourth and last single from the album.

                Dunn was relatively unknown but the tribute to her minister father shot her to stardom.

                Originally a group of sisters recorded the song, but they never released the song and Dunn decided to release it on her album.

                The song reached #7 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.  Dunn stated in an interview she believed the success of the song was because “people like hearing about a family relationship that’s stable and loving.”

                In 1987, Dunn was nominated for two Grammy Awards for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song.

                In 1988, Dunn performed the song as a duet with Dolly Parton.

                Dunn said in an interview, “I could see every time I did ‘Daddy’s Hands,’ people were weeping. It was like: ‘What is going on here?’ I was looking around at the band: ‘Now, what the heck? Something’s really happening when I do this song.’ So, when it came time to try to figure out what the fourth single was going to be, I brought up to the record label guys and I said: ‘Look, something’s happening out here. I don’t know what’s happening but something’s really happening with this song. I think we should consider putting this out because it really seems to be touching people.'”

                Holly Dunn passed away from cancer in 2016.

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