RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Randy Parton and the city of Roanoke Rapids have reached a settlement that ends the country singer’s affiliation with a flagging music theater that once bore his name.

The settlement of up to $750,000 relieves the city of a contract that would have paid Parton, the brother of singer Dolly Parton, $1.25 million over five years.

“We’re divorced,” Mayor Drewery Beale said following the agreement, reached Friday.

Roanoke Rapids officials had wooed the country singer – whose last hit, “A Stranger in Her Bed,” reached No. 92 on the Billboard country charts in 1983 – with a hefty salary, promises of a house and a car, and an agreement to build the 1,500-seat Randy Parton Theatre. The city borrowed $21.5 million for the project they hoped would anchor an entertainment district.

Parton was kicked off the job amid poor ticket sales, concerns that he misused city money and accusations that he was intoxicated before a show. Parton has denied the allegations.

City officials released a report in December indicating Parton had spent more than $2.4 million of a $3 million reserve fund within two years, some of it on Las Vegas destinations and at liquor stores.

Parton has said the city could have helped the project by completing its plans to attract hotels and retail outlets to the site. The facility has since been named The Roanoke Rapids Theatre.

AP-ES-03-03-08 1343EST

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