FARMINGTON, Utah — For 25 years, Jason CoZmo's been performing as Dolly Parton.
"I do impersonations but Dolly Parton has been my 9 to 5 for the past 25 years, from LA to New York and back to Utah,” said Jason CoZmo, a career entertainer and impersonator.
He started off in musical theater, worked at Disneyland, tried his hand at acting and eventually was drawn to drag shows, which is when the Dolly character was born.
"It's almost like the public chose Dolly, for years I tried to audition for TV and movies and things like that,” said CoZmo. “Put on a Dolly wig, I've been in three TV shows, talk shows, three movies and four books."
To CoZmo, Dolly Parton wasn't just bigger than life, she was a big part of his.
"She is, she's my life, this is how I make a living, this has been the bulk of my adult life."
WATCH | Utah performer dedicates decades to Dolly Parton
Through his years of performing as her, CoZmo even got to meet her.
"She's love, she's just so much love. Having been around her and in her presence, she's just like a ball of energy, like a ball of light around her."
That's why when Dolly Parton passed away, it hit CoZmo especially hard.
He's only performed as Dolly twice since, one of those times being at the Dolly Parton Day celebration at Station Park in Farmington.
"It felt almost disrespectful at first, now it feels like a duty, like I have to carry on her music, and her legacy,” said CoZmo.
And that's exactly what CoZmo intends to do.
"She has passed on but she will live on forever, and I hope that I can, as an artist, be able to do that. It's what I've been doing, is playing Dolly, and putting her music out there and her message, she'll never be gone.”