SHE left the nine-to-five life behind long ago - but that doesn't mean that Dolly Parton has ever stopped working.

The living legend proved last night just what a professional entertainer she is with a truly fabulous show at the MEN Arena.

It's hard to believe that the tiny blonde woman on stage turned 60 last year.

From the moment she rose out of the stage through a trap door wearing a sparkly white outfit, the audience was mesmerised by the larger-than-life character.

She packed her set with hit after hit, including Jolene, Here You Come Again and Coat of Many Colours, with the sell-out audience singing along enthusiastically.

Dolly, whose next album is fittingly named Backwoods Barbie, once said that it cost a lot of money to look "this cheap" changed outfits mid-set and reappeared wearing a sparkly mini-dress.

Throughout, she chatted to the audience, telling stories of her childhood and cracking jokes about her two most famous assets.

She certainly knows her audience, which included Sean Tunney and Jenny McAlpine from Coronation Street, who clapped and cheered enthusiastically after every song.

But aside from the sheer showmanship of it all, it was clear that here was a real Tennessee talent to be reckoned with.

Her voice was as strong last night as it was in 1974 when she released I Will Always Love You.

And that song, which famously appeared on the soundtrack to the film The Bodyguard, sung by Whitney Houston, received a rapturous reception.

As for Dolly herself, from last night's performance it seems that we will always love her, too.