Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton in Nashville, Tennessee, 2005
Background information
Birth name
Dolly Rebecca Parton
Born
January 19, 1946
(1946-01-19)
Sevierville, Tennessee, U.S.
Genre(s)
Country, country pop,
bluegrass
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, actress,
author, philanthropist,
musician, businesswoman,
advocate for children’s
education (Imagination
Library)
Instrument(s) Vocals, guitar, banjo,
autoharp, piano
Voice type(s)
Soprano[1]
Years active
1959–present
Label(s)
Goldband (1959-1965)
Monument (1965-1967)
RCA (1967-1986)
CBS (1987-1995)
Rising Tide (1995-1998)
Decca (1997-1998)
Blue Eye (1998-1999)
Sugar Hill (1998-2005)
Dolly (2006-Present)
Associated
acts
Porter Wagoner, Kenny
Rogers, Emmylou Harris,
Linda Ronstadt, Loretta Lynn,
Tammy Wynette, Shania
Twain Stella Parton, The
Larkins, Altan
Website
Dolly Parton Music
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19,
1946) is a Grammy Award-winning American
singer-songwriter,
author,
actress
and
philanthropist, known for her prolific work in
country music.
In the four-and-a-half decades since her
national-chart début, she remains the most-
successful female artist [2] in the history of
the genre, with 25 number-one singles (a re-
cord for a female artist),[3] and a record 42
top-10 country albums.[4] She has the distinc-
tion of having performed on a top-five coun-
try hit in each of the last five decades[5] and
is the only artist to score a number-one coun-
try single in each of the past four decades. [6]
She is known for her distinctive Tenness-
ee-mountain soprano,[1] sometimes bawdy
humor, flamboyant dress sense and voluptu-
ous figure.
Early years
Childhood
Dolly Parton was born in Sevierville (near
Knoxville), Tennessee, the fourth of twelve
children born to Robert Lee Parton and Avie
Lee Caroline Owens. Her siblings are:[7][8]
• Willadeene
Parton (a
poet, b.
1940)
• David
Parton (b.
1942)
• Denver
Parton (b.
1943)
• Robert Lee
"Bobby"
Parton Jr.
(b. 1948)
• Stella
Parton (a
singer, b.
1949)
• Cassie
Parton (a
singer, b.
1951)
• Randel Huston "Randy"
Parton (a singer and
businessman, b. 1953)
• Larry Parton (b. 1955, d.
1955)
• twins (b. 1957) — Floyd
Parton (a singer-
songwriter) and Freida
Parton (a singer)
• Rachel Dennison (an
actress, b. 1959)
(She admitted in a 2002 interview that her
father had strayed and had, to her know-
ledge, at least three illegitimate children.)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dolly Parton
1
Parton has stated she is of Ulster Scots
ancestry.[9] She is distant cousins with adult-
film actress Julia Parton.
Her family was, as she described them,
"dirt poor".[10] They
lived
in a rustic,
dilapidated one-room cabin in Locust Ridge,
Tennessee, a hamlet just north of the Green-
brier Valley in the Great Smoky Mountains of
Sevier County, a predominantly Pentecostal-
ist area.
Music formed a major part of her early
church experience. She once told an inter-
viewer that her grandfather was a Pentecost-
al "holy-roller" preacher.[11] Today, when ap-
pearing in live concerts, she frequently per-
forms spiritual songs. (Parton, however, pro-
fesses no religious denomination, claiming
only to be "spiritual" while adding that she
believes that all the Earth’s people are God’s
children.)
Career discovery
Parton began performing as a child, singing
on local radio and television programs in the
East Tennessee area. By age nine, she was
appearing on The Cas Walker Show on both
WIVK Radio and WBIR-TV in Knoxville, Ten-
nessee. At thirteen, she was recording on a
small label, Goldband Records, and appear-
ing at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Ten-
nessee. It was at the Opry where she first
met Johnny Cash who encouraged her to go
where her heart took her, and not to care
what others thought.[12] The day after she
graduated from high school in 1964, Parton
moved to Nashville taking many traditional
elements of folklore and popular music from
East Tennessee with her.
Parton’s initial success came as a song-
writer, writing hit songs for Hank Williams,
Jr. and Skeeter Davis.[13] She signed with
Monument Records in late 1965, where she
was initially pitched as a bubblegum pop
singer,[14] earning only one national-chart
single, "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby," which
did not crack the Billboard Hot 100.
The label agreed to have Parton sing coun-
try music after her composition, "Put It Off
Until Tomorrow," as recorded by Bill Phillips
(and with Parton, uncredited, on harmony),
went to number six on the country-music
charts in 1966. Her first country single,
"Dumb Blonde" (one of the few songs during
this era that she recorded but did not write),
reached number twenty-four on the country-
music charts in 1967, followed the same year
with "Something Fishy," which went to num-
ber seventeen. The two songs anchored her
first full-length album, Hello, I’m Dolly.
Marriage
On May 30, 1966, she married Carl Thomas
Dean in Ringgold, Georgia.[15] She had met
Dean at the Wishy-Washy Laundromat two
years earlier on her first day in Nashville. His
very first words to her were: "You’re gonna
get sunburnt out there, little lady."[16]
Dean, who runs an asphalt-paving busi-
ness in Nashville, has always shunned publi-
city and rarely accompanies her to any
events. According to Parton, he has only ever
seen her perform once. However, she has
also commented in interviews that, although
it appears they do not spend much time to-
gether, it is simply that nobody sees him. She
has also commented on Dean’s romantic side
claiming that he will often do spontaneous
things to surprise her, and sometimes even
writes her poems.
The couple partly raised several of Par-
ton’s younger siblings at their home in
Nashville, leading her nieces and nephews to
refer to her as "Aunt Granny"; she has no
children of her own.
Music career
1967–1976: Country-music
success
In 1967, Parton was asked to join the weekly
country-music, syndicated-television program
The Porter Wagoner Show, hosted by Porter
Wagoner, replacing Norma Jean (Beasler),
who had returned to Oklahoma
Initially, Wagoner’s audience was re-
luctant to warm to Parton and
chanted for Norma Jean, but with
Wagoner’s assistance, she was ac-
cepted. Wagoner convinced his la-
bel, RCA Victor, to also sign Parton.
Since female performers were not
particularly popular in the late ’60s,
the label decided to protect their in-
vestment by releasing her
first
single as a duet with Wagoner. The
duo’s first single, "The Last Thing on
My Mind," reached the country Top
Ten early in 1968, launching a six-
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dolly Parton
2
year streak of virtually uninterrup-
ted Top Ten singles.
Parton’s first solo single, "Just Be-
cause I’m a Woman", was released
in the summer of 1968 and was a
moderate hit, reaching number sev-
enteen. For the remainder of the
decade, none of her solo efforts —
even "In the Good Old Days (When
Times Were Bad)," which would
later become a standard — were as
successful as her duets. The duo was
named Vocal Group of the Year in
1968 by the Country Music Associ-
ation, but Parton’s solo records were
continually ignored. Wagoner and
Parton were both frustrated by her
lack of solo success, because he had
a significant financial stake in her
future — as of 1969, he was her
co-producer and owned nearly half
of the publishing company Owepar.
By 1970, both Parton and Wagoner
had grown frustrated by her lack of
solo chart success, and Porter had
her sing Jimmie Rodgers’ "Mule
Skinner Blues," a gimmick that
worked. The record shot to number
three on the charts, followed closely
by her
first number-one single,
"Joshua." For the next two years, she
had a number of solo hits — includ-
ing her signature song "Coat of
Many Colors" (number four, 1971) —
in addition to her duets. Though she
had successful singles, none of them
were blockbusters until
"Jolene"
reached number one in early 1974.
Parton
stopped
traveling with
Wagoner after its release, yet she
continued to appear on television
and sing duets with him until 1976.
[17]
She stayed with the Wagoner Show and con-
tinued to record duets with him for seven
years, then made a break to become a solo
artist. In 1974, her song, "I Will Always Love
You" (written about her professional break
from Wagoner), was released and went to
number one on the country-music charts.
Around the same time, Elvis Presley indic-
ated that he wanted to cover the song. Parton
was
interested until Presley’s manager,
Colonel Tom Parker, told her that she would
have to sign over half of the publishing rights
if Presley recorded the song (as was the
standard procedure for songs he recor-
ded).[18] Parton refused and, although heart-
breaking, that decision is credited with help-
ing to make her many millions of dollars in
royalties from the song over the years. It was
decisions like these, in fact, that caused her
to be called "The Iron Butterfly" in show-busi-
ness circles. She also claims to have made
enough from Whitney Houston’s cover ver-
sion of this song to "buy Graceland", Pres-
ley’s mansion.
1977–1986: Branching out into
pop music
From 1974 to 1980, she consistently charted
in the country Top 10, with no fewer than
eight singles reaching number one. Parton
had her own syndicated-television variety
show, Dolly! (1976-1977), and by 1977 had
gained the right to produce her own albums,
which immediately resulted in diverse efforts
like 1977’s New Harvest ... First Gathering.
In addition to her own hits during the late
1970s, many artists, from Rose Maddox and
Kitty Wells to Olivia Newton-John, Emmylou
Harris, and Linda Ronstadt, covered her
songs, and her siblings Randy and Stella had
recording contracts of their own.[17]
Parton later had commercial success as a
pop singer, as well as an actress. Her 1977
album, Here You Come Again, was her first
million-seller, and its title track ("Here You
Come Again") became her first top-ten single
on the pop charts (reaching number three);
many of her subsequent singles charted on
both pop and country charts, simultaneously.
Her albums during this period were de-
veloped
specifically
for
pop-crossover
success.
In 1978, Parton won a Grammy Award for
Best Female Country Vocal Performance for
her Here You Come Again album. Following
that title track’s success, she had further pop
hits with "Two Doors Down", "Heartbreaker"
(both 1978), "Baby I’m Burning" and "You’re
the Only One" (both 1979), all of which
charted in the pop singles Top 40, and all of
which also topped the country-singles chart.
On April 3, 1978, Parton performed with Ch-
er on television in Cher... Special
in the
"Musical Battle to Save Cher’s Soul Medley."
Parton was dressed in white and, with a team
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dolly Parton
3
of brightly clad singers, portrayed an angelic
host while punk band The Tubes, dressed in
black leather and performing "Mondo Bond-
age", battled to send Cher’s soul into eternal
damnation.
Parton’s commercial success continued to
grow during 1980, with three number-one
hits in a row: the Donna Summer-written
"Starting Over Again," "Old Flames Can’t
Hold a Candle to You", and "9 to 5."[17]
With less time to spend songwriting as she
focused on a burgeoning film career, during
the early 1980s Parton recorded a larger per-
centage of material from noted pop song-
writers, such as Barry Mann and Cynthia
Weil, Rupert Holmes, Gary Portnoy and
Carole Bayer Sager.
"9 to 5", the theme song to the feature
film Nine to Five (1980) Parton starred in
along with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, not
only reached number one on the country
charts, but also number one on the pop and
the adult-contemporary charts, giving her a
triple-number-one hit. Parton became one of
the few female country singers to have a
number-one single on the country and pop
charts simultaneously. It also received an
Academy Award nomination for Best Original
Song.
Parton’s singles continued to appear con-
sistently in the country Top 10: between
1981 and 1985, she had 12 Top 10 hits; half
of those were number-one singles. Parton
continued to make inroads on the pop charts
as well with a re-recorded version of "I Will
Always Love You" from the feature film The
Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
(1982)
scraping the Top 50 that year and her duet
with Kenny Rogers, "Islands in the Stream"
(written by the Bee Gees and produced by
Barry Gibb), spent two weeks at number one
in 1983.[17]
However, by 1985 many old-time fans felt
that Parton was spending too much time
courting the mainstream. Most of her albums
were dominated by the adult-contemporary
pop songs like "Islands in the Stream," and it
had been years since she had sung straight-
forward country. She also continued to ex-
plore new business and entertainment ven-
tures such as her Dollywood theme park, that
opened in 1986 in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Her record sales were still relatively strong,
however, with "Save the Last Dance for Me",
"Tennessee Homesick Blues" (both 1984);
"Real Love"
(another duet with Kenny
in Honolulu, Hawaii, 1983.
Rogers), "Don’t Call it Love" (both 1985); and
"Think About Love" (1986) all reaching the
country-singles Top 10. ("Tennessee Home-
sick Blues" and "Think About Love" reached
number one. "Real Love" also reached num-
ber one on the country-singles chart and also
became
a modest
pop-crossover
hit).
However, RCA Records didn’t renew her con-
tract after it expired that year, and she
signed with CBS Records in 1987.[19]
1987–1994: Return to country
roots
Along with Harris and Ronstadt, she released
the decade-in-the-making Trio (1987) to crit-
ical acclaim. The album strongly revitalized
Parton’s temporarily stalled music career,
spending five weeks at number one on Bill-
board’s Country Albums chart, selling several
million copies and producing four Top 10
country hits including Phil Spector’s "To
Know Him Is to Love Him", which went to
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dolly Parton
4
number one. Trio won the Grammy Award for
Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group
with Vocal and was nominated for a Grammy
Award for Album of the Year.
White Limozeen
(1989) produced two
number-one hits in "Why’d You Come in Here
Lookin’ Like That" and "Yellow Roses." Al-
though it looked like Parton’s career had
been revived, it was actually just a brief re-
vival before contemporary country music
came in the early 1990s and moved all veter-
an artists out of the charts.[19]
A duet with Ricky Van Shelton, "Rockin’
Years" (1991) reached number one but Par-
ton’s greatest commercial fortune of the dec-
ade — and probably of all time — came when
Houston recorded "I Will Always Love You"
for the soundtrack of the feature film The
Bodyguard (1992); both the single and the al-
bum were massively successful.
She recorded "The Day I Fall In Love" as a
duet with James Ingram for the feature film
Beethoven’s 2nd
(1993). The songwriters
(Sager, Ingram, and Clif Mangess) were nom-
inated for an Academy Award for Best Origin-
al Song and Parton and Ingram performed
the song on the awards telecast.
Similar to her earlier collabrative album
with Harris and Rondstadt, Parton recorded
Honky Tonk Angels (1994) with Loretta Lynn
and Tammy Wynette.[20] It was certified a
Gold Album by the Recording Industry Asso-
ciation of America and helped revive both
Wynette’s and Lynn’s careers.
1995–present: career today
In 1996 Parton re-recorded "I Will Always
Love You" as a duet with Vince Gill for which
they won the Country Music Association’s
Vocal Event of the Year Award.
A second and more-contemporary collab-
oration with Harris and Ronstadt, "Trio II"
(1999), was released and its cover of Neil
Young’s "After the Gold Rush" won a Grammy
Award for Best Country Collaboration with
Vocals. Parton was also inducted into the
Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999.[20]
She recorded a series of critically ac-
claimed bluegrass albums, beginning with
The Grass Is Blue (1999), winning a Grammy
Award for Best Bluegrass Album, and Little
Sparrow (2001), with its cover of Collective
Soul’s "Shine" winning a Grammy Award for
Best Female Country Vocal Performance. The
third, Halos & Horns (2002) included a
bluegrass version of the Led Zeppelin classic
Stairway to Heaven.
Parton released Those Were The Days
(2005), her interpretation of hits from the
folk-rock era of the late 1960s through the
early 1970s. It featured such classics as John
Lennon’s "Imagine," Cat Stevens’s "Where
Do the Children Play?", Tommy James’s
"Crimson and Clover", and Pete Seeger’s
anti-war song "Where Have All the Flowers
Gone?".
Parton earned her second Academy Award
nomination for Best Original Song for "Trav-
elin’ Thru", which she wrote specifically for
the feature film Transamerica (2005). Be-
cause of the song’s nature of accepting a
transgender woman without judgment, Par-
ton received death threats.[21] She also re-
turned to number one on the country charts
later in 2005 by lending her distinctive har-
monies to the Brad Paisley ballad, "When I
Get Where I’m Goin’".[20]
In September 2007, Parton released her
first single from her own record company,
Dolly Records entitled, "Better Get to Livin’",
which eventually peaked at number fourty-
eight on the Billboard’s Hot Country Songs
chart.
Her latest album, Backwoods Barbie, re-
leased February 26, 2008, reached number
two on the country charts. The album’s debut
at number seventeen on the all-genre Bill-
board 200 albums chart has been the highest
in her career.[22] The title track and video
was released in February 2009. The title
song was written as part of her score for 9 to
5: The Musical, an adaptation of her feature
film Nine to Five.
In concert and on tour
Parton toured extensively from the late 1960s
until the early 1990s. In 2002 she returned to
the concert stage; she later went on the
Backwoods Barbie Tour in 2008 promoting
Backwoods Barbie.
Dollywood Foundation Shows
From the early 1990s through 2001, her con-
cert appearances were primarily limited to
one weekend a year at Dollywood to benefit
her Dollywood Foundation. The concerts nor-
mally followed a theme (simliar to a Legends
in Concert or, for example, a "fifties-mu-
sic"-tribute concert). They have also included
holiday shows during the Christmas season.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dolly Parton
5
Halos & Horns Tour
After a decade-long absence from touring,
Parton decided to return in 2002 with the
Halos & Horns Tour, an 18-city, intimate-club
tour to promote Halos & Horns
(2002).
House of Blues Entertainment, Inc. produced
the tour and it sold out all its U.S. and
European dates (her first in two decades).
Hello, I’m Dolly Tour
She returned to mid-sized-stadium venues in
2004 with her 36-city, U.S. and Canadian
Hello, I’m Dolly Tour, a glitzier, more-elabor-
ate stage show than two years earlier. With
nearly 140,000 tickets sold, it was the tenth-
biggest country tour of the year and grossed
more than $6 million.
The Vintage Tour
In late 2005 Parton completed a 40-city tour
with The Vintage Tour promoting her new
Those Were the Days (2005).
European Tour 2007
Parton scheduled mini concerts in late 2006
throughout the U.S. and Canada as a gear-up
to her 17-city, 21-date European Tour 2007.
Running from March 6-April 3, 2007, this was
her first world tour in many years and her
first
tour
in the United Kingdom since
2002.[23]
The European Tour 2007 sold out in every
European city and gained mostly positive re-
views. It took grossed just over $16 million.
The most-noted feature of the shows was that
very few in attendance, despite Parton being
60, had ever seen her in concert. This,
coupled with Parton’s European popularity,
led to a very well-received reception when
she took the stage.
Backwoods Barbie Tour
In 2008 Parton went on the Backwoods Bar-
bie Tour. It was set to begin in the U.S.
(February-April 2008) to coincide with the re-
lease of Backwoods Barbie (2008), her first
mainstream-country album in 17 years.[24]
However, because of back problems she post-
poned all U.S. dates. The tour started March
28, 2008, with 13 U.S. dates, followed by 17
European ones.[25][26]
She returned to the U.S. with a concert at
Humphrey’s By The Bay in San Diego, Cali-
fornia, on August 1, 2008. She performed her
Backwoods Barbie Tour on August 3, 2008, at
the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, California,
to a sold-out crowd and standing ovations.
From August 1 to November 1, she has
scheduled 16 dates on both the east and west
coasts of the U.S.[25]
Songwriting
Parton is a hugely successful songwriter,
having begun by writing country-music songs
with strong elements of folk music, based
upon her upbringing in humble mountain sur-
roundings, and reflecting her family’s evan-
gelical-Christian background. Her
songs
"Coat of Many Colors", "I Will Always Love
You" and "Jolene" have become classics in
the field, as have a number of others. As a
songwriter, she is also regarded as one of
country music’s most-gifted storytellers, with
many of her narrative songs based on per-
sons and events from her childhood. Parton
has listed almost 600 songs with Broadcast
Music, Inc. (BMI) to date and has earned 37
BMI awards for her material.[27] In 2001, she
was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of
Fame.[28]
In a 2009 interview with CNN’s Larry
King Live, Parton indicated that she had writ-
ten "at least 3,000" songs, having written ser-
iously since the age of seven. Parton went on
to say that she writes something every day,
be it a song or an idea.[29]
Her compositions in films and covers
Parton’s songwriting has been featured
prominently in several films.
In addition to the title song for Nine to
Five (1980), she also recorded a second ver-
sion of "I Will Always Love You" for The Best
Little Whorehouse in Texas
(1982);
the
second version proved to be another number
one country hit and also managed to reach
the pop charts going to number 53 in the Un-
ited States.
"I Will Always Love You" has been covered
by many country artists, including Linda Ron-
stadt, on Prisoner In Disguise (1975) and
Kenny Rogers on Always and Forever (1997)
which sold over four million copies world-
wide, and by LeAnn Rimes. In 1992, Whitney
Houston performed it on The Bodyguard
soundtrack and Houston’s version became
the best-selling hit ever written and per-
formed by a female vocalist, with worldwide
sales of over twelve million copies.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dolly Parton
6
As mentioned earlier, as a songwriter,
Parton has twice been nominated for an
Academy Award for Best Original Song, for
"9 to 5" (1980)and "Travelin’ Thru" (2005).
She was considered the front-runner in 2005,
but "Travelin’ Thru" lost to "It’s Hard Out
Here for a Pimp," from Hustle and Flow
(2005). Had Parton’s song won, she would
have become the first country songwriter to
win an Academy Award. (Although other
country songs have previously won the Best
Original Song category, all winning songs
were written by non-country artists, most of-
ten classical or pop composers.) "Travelin’
Thru" did win as Best Original Song award at
the 2005 Phoenix Film Critics Society
Awards. The song was also nominated for
both the Golden Globe Award for Best Origin-
al Song and the Broadcast Film Critics Asso-
ciation Award (also known as the Critics’
Choice Awards) for Best Song.
American Idol appearance
The music-competition,
reality-television
show American
Idol
(2002-present) has
weekly themes and the April 1-2, 2008, espis-
odes’ theme was "Dolly Parton Songs" with
the nine then-remaining contestants each
singing a Parton composition. Parton parti-
cipated as a "guest mentor" to the contest-
ants and also performed "Jesus and Gravity"
(from Backwoods Barbie and released as a
single in March 2008) receiving a standing
ovation from the studio audience.
9 to 5: The Musical
Parton wrote the score (and Patricia Resnick
wrote the book) for 9 to 5: The Musical, a
musical-theatre adaptation of Parton’s fea-
ture film Nine to Five (1980). The musical
ran at the Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles,
California, in Fall 2008.
It opened on Broadway at the Marquis
Theatre in New York City, New York, on April
30, 2009, to mixed reviews.[30] The title track
of her Backwoods Barbie (2008), was written
for the musical’s character Doralee.[31]
Developing
the musical was not an
overnight process. According to a broadcast
of the public-radio program Studio 360 (Octo-
ber 29, 2005),[32] in October 2005 Parton
was in the midst of composing the songs for a
Broadway musical-theatre adaptation of the
film. In late June 2007, 9 to 5: the Musical
was read for industry presentations. The
readings starred Megan Hilty, Allison Janney,
Stephanie J. Block, Bebe Neuwirth and Marc
Kudisch.[33]
Musician
Parton plays the autoharp, banjo, drums, dul-
cimer,
fiddle, guitar, harmonica, penny-
whistle and piano.[34] She began composing
songs at the age of four, her mother often
writing down the music as she heard Parton
singing around the house. Parton often de-
scribes her talent as having "the gift of
rhyme".
Acting career
During the mid-1970s, Parton wanted to ex-
pand her audience base. Although her first
attempt, the television variety show Dolly!
(1976-1977), had high ratings it lasted only
one season, with Parton requesting to be re-
leased from her contract because of the
stress it was causing her vocal cords. (She
later tried a second television variety show,
also entitled Dolly (1987-1988); it also lasted
only one season.)
Film
In her first feature film, in 1980, she por-
trayed a secretary in a co-starring role with
Fonda and Tomlin in Nine to Five. Parton re-
ceived Golden Globe Award nominations for
Best Actress — Motion Picture Musical or
Comedy and New Star Of The Year – Actress.
She also wrote and recorded the biggest
solo hit of her career with the film’s title
song. It received an Academy Award nomina-
tion for Best Original Song along with a
Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Ori-
ginal Song. Released as a single, the song
won two Grammy Awards: Best Female Coun-
try Vocal Performance and Best Country
Song. The song also reached number one on
the Billboard Hot 100 and in was placed
number 78 on the American Film Institute’s
"100 Years... 100 Songs" list released in
2004. Parton was also named Top Female
Box Office Star by the Motion Picture Herald
in both 1981 and 1982.
Parton’s second film was The Best Little
Whorehouse in Texas (1982), with her receiv-
ing a second Golden Globe nomination for
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Mo-
tion Picture Musical or Comedy.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dolly Parton
7
She followed with Rhinestone (1984) co-
starring Sylvester Stallone and Steel Magno-
lias (1989) with an ensemble cast.
The last leading role for Parton was por-
traying a plainspoken radio-program host
(with listeners telephoning in to share their
problems) in the Straight Talk, (1992) oppos-
ite James Woods. The film, while not a block-
buster, did respectably well.
She played an overprotective mother in
Frank McKlusky, C.I.
(2002) with Dave
Sheridan, Cameron Richardson and Randy
Quaid.
Parton played herself in a cameo appear-
ance in The Beverly Hillbillies (1993), an ad-
aptation of the long-running television situ-
ation comedy of the same name and also in
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous
(2005) (the sequel to Sandra Bullock’s earlier
hit Miss Congeniality (2000)).
She was featured in The Book Lady (2008)
a documentary about her campaign for chil-
dren’s literacy[35] and she was expecting to
repeat her television role as Hannah’s god-
mother in Hannah Montana: The Movie
(2008) but the character was omitted from
the final screenplay.[36]
Television
In addition to her performing appearances on
the Wagoner Show (in the 1960s and into the
1970s); her two self-titled television variety
shows (in the 1970s and 1980s); and on
American Idol (in 2001) and other guest ap-
pearances, Parton has also acted in television
roles.
She starred in the television movie Smoky
Mountain Christmas (1986); Unlikely Angel
(1996), portraying an angel sent back to
earth following a deadly car crash; and Blue
Valley Songbird (1999), where her character
lives through her music.
Parton has also done voice work for anim-
ation for television series, playing herself in
the Alvin & the Chipmunks (episode: "Urban
Chipmun" (1983)) and the character Katrina
Eloise "Murph" Murphy in The Magic School
Bus (episode: "The Family Holiday Special"
(1994)).
Dolly guest starred on an episode of
"Designing Women" as herself, the gaurdian
movie star of Charlene’s baby. (season 4,
episode - THE FIRST DAY OF THE LAST
DECADE OF THE ENTIRE TWENTIETH
CENTURY -(60 minute episode) airdate
January 1, 1990)[37] She also appeared in the
situation comedy series Reba
(episode:
"Reba’s Rules Of Real Estate") portraying a
real-estate agency owner and on The
Simpsons (episode: "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday"
(1999)).
She also made cameo appearances on the
Disney Channel as "Aunt Dolly" visiting Han-
nah and her family in the Miley Cyrus series
Hannah Montana
(episodes: "Good Golly,
Miss Dolly" (2006) and "I Will Always Loathe
You" (2007)). The role came about because of
her real-life relationship as Cyrus’s godmoth-
er.[38]
Businesses
Parton’s net worth has been estimated at
between $520 and $600 million, making her
one of the wealthiest female entertainers in
the world.
In 1998, Nashville Business
ranked her as the wealthiest country-music
star.[39]
The Dollywood Company
Parton invested much of her earnings into
business ventures in her native East Tenness-
ee, notably Pigeon Forge. She is a co-owner
of The Dollywood Company, which operates
the theme park Dollywood (a former Silver
Dollar City), a dinner theatre, Dolly Parton’s
Dixie Stampede, and the waterpark, Dolly-
wood’s Splash Country, all in Pigeon Forge.
Dollywood is ranked as the 24th-most-pop-
ular theme park in the U.S., with about three
million visitors annually.[40] The area is a
thriving tourist attraction, drawing visitors
from large parts of the Southeastern and
Midwestern U.S. This region of the U.S., like
most areas of Appalachia, had suffered eco-
nomically for decades; Parton’s business in-
vestment has helped revitalized the area.
The Dixie Stampede business also has ven-
ues in Branson, Missouri, and Myrtle Beach,
South Carolina. A former Dixie Stampede loc-
ation in Orlando, Florida closed in January
2008 after the business’s land and building
were sold to a developer.
Film and television production
company
Parton is a co-owner of Sandollar Productions
with Sandy Gallin, her former manager. A
film-and-television-production company,
it
produced the Common Threads: Stories from
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dolly Parton
8
the Quilt (1989) which won an Academy
Award for Best Documentary (Feature); the
television series Babes (1990-1991) and Buffy
the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003); and the fea-
ture films Father of the Bride (1991), Father
of the Bride: Part II (1995) Straight Talk
(1992) (in which Parton also starred), Sab-
rina (1995), among other shows.
Other businesses
Briefly from 1987, Parton owned Dockside
Plantation, a restaurant in the upscale neigh-
borhood of Hawaiʻi Kai in Honolulu, Hawaii.
She also had a "signature line" of wigs from
Revlon in the early 1990s. The best-selling
style, "Dolly’s Own", is still sold by Revlon, al-
beit under a new style name.
Philanthropic efforts
Since the mid-1980s Parton has been praised
for her many charitable efforts, particularly
in the area of literacy, primarily through her
Dollywood Foundation.
Dolly Parton’s Imagination
Library
Her literacy program, "Dolly Parton’s Imagin-
ation Library"[41], a part of the Dollywood
Foundation, mails one book per month to
each enrolled child from the time of their
birth until they enter kindergarten. It began
in Sevier County but has now been replicated
in 566 counties across thirty-six U.S. states
(as well as in Canada[42]). In December 2007
it expanded to Europe with the South York-
shire town of Rotherham, United Kingdom,
being the first British locality to receive the
books.
The program distributes more than 2.5
million free books to children annually.
In 2006 Parton published a cookbook
Dolly’s Dixie Fixin’s: Love, Laughter and Lots
of Good Food.[43][44] The net profits support
the Dollywood Foundation.
Other philanthropy
Dollywood has also been noted for bringing
jobs and tax revenues to a previously de-
pressed region.
She has also worked to raise money on be-
half of several other causes, including the
American Red Cross and a number of HIV/
AIDS-related charities.
In December 2006,
Parton pledged
$500,000 toward a proposed $90-million hos-
pital and cancer center to be constructed in
Sevierville in the name of Dr. Robert F. Tho-
mas, the physician who delivered her; she
also announced plans for a benefit concert to
raise additional funds for the project. The
concert went ahead playing to about 8,000
people.[45]
Awards and honors
Parton is one of the most-honored female
country performers of all time. The Record
Industry Association of America has certified
25 of her single or album releases as either
Gold Record, Platinum Record or Multi-Plat-
inum Record. She has had 26 songs reach
number one on the Billboard country charts,
a record for a female artist. She has 42
career-top-10 country albums, a record for
any artist, and 110 career-charted singles
over the past 40 years. All inclusive sales of
singles, albums, hits collections, paid digital
downloads and compilation usage during Par-
ton’s career have reportedly topped 100 mil-
lion records around the world.[46]
She has received seven Grammy Awards
and a total of 42 Grammy Award nomina-
tions. At the American Music Awards she has
won three awards, but has received 18 nom-
inations. At the Country Music Association,
she has received 10 awards and 42 nomina-
tions. At the Academy of Country Music, she
has won seven awards and 39 nominations.
She is one of only five female artists (includ-
ing Reba McEntire, Barbara Mandrell, Sh-
ania Twain and Loretta Lynn), to win the
Country Music Association’s highest honor,
Entertainer of the Year (1978).
She was awarded a star on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame for Recording in 1984, located
at 6712 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood,
California; a star on the Nashville Star Walk
for Grammy winners; and a bronze sculpture
on the courthouse lawn in Sevierville. She
has called that statue of herself in her homet-
own "the greatest honor," because it came
from the people who knew her.
Parton was inducted into the Grand Ole
Opry in 1969, and in 1986 was named one of
Ms. Magazine’s Women of the Year. In 1986,
Parton was inducted into the Nashville Song-
writers Hall of Fame. In 1999, Parton re-
ceived country music’s highest honor, an in-
duction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dolly Parton
9
She received an honorary doctorate degree
from Carson-Newman College (Jefferson City,
Tennessee) in 1990. This was followed by in-
duction into the National Academy of Popular
Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001. In
2002, Parton ranked number four in CMT’s
40 Greatest Women of Country Music.
Parton during a reception for the Kennedy
Center honorees in the East Room of the
White House on December 3, 2006.
She was honored in 2003 with a tribute al-
bum called Just Because I’m a Woman: Songs
of Dolly Parton. The artists who recorded ver-
sions of Parton’s songs included Melissa
Etheridge ("I Will Always Love You"), Alison
Krauss ("9 to 5"), Twain ("Coat of Many Col-
ors"), Me’Shell NdegéOcello ("Two Doors
Down"), Norah Jones ("The Grass is Blue"),
and Sinéad O’Connor ("Dagger Through the
Heart");
Parton
herself
contributed
a
rerecording of the title song, originally the
title song for her first RCA album in 1968.
Parton was awarded the Living Legend
Medal by the U.S. Library of Congress on
April 14, 2004, for her contributions to the
cultural heritage of the United States.[47]
This was followed in 2005 with the Nation-
al Medal of Arts, the highest honor given by
the U.S. government for excellence in the
arts and is presented by the U.S. President.
On December 3, 2006, Parton received the
Kennedy Center Honors from the John F.
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for
her lifetime of contributions to the arts. Oth-
er 2006 honorees included Zubin Mehta,
Steven Spielberg, Smokey Robinson and
Andrew Lloyd Webber. During the show,
some of country music’s biggest names came
to show their admiration. Carrie Underwood
performed Parton’s hit
"Islands
in
the
Stream" with Rogers, Parton’s original duet
partner. Krauss performed "Jolene" and duet-
ted "Coat of Many Colors" with Twain.
McEntire and Reese Witherspoon also came
to pay tribute.
On May 8, 2009, Parton received an hon-
orary degree from the University of Tenness-
ee. It was only the second honorary degree to
be given by the university. The degree, a doc-
torate of humane and musical letters, was
given at the commencement ceremony for
the UT Knoxville College of Arts and
Sciences.
Philanthropy-related honors
In 2003, her efforts to preserve the bald
eagle through the American Eagle Founda-
tion’s sanctuary at Dollywood earned her the
Partnership Award from the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service.
Parton received the Woodrow Wilson
Award for Public Service from the Woodrow
Wilson International Center for Scholars of
the Smithsonian Institution at a ceremony in
Nashville on November 8, 2007.
For her work in literacy, Parton has re-
ceived various awards including:
• Association of American Publishers - AAP
Honors Award (2000)
• Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval
(2001) (the first time the seal had been
awarded to a person)
• American Association of School
Administrators - Galaxy Award (2002)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dolly Parton
10
• National State Teachers of the Year -
Chasing Rainbows Award (2002)
• Parents as Teachers National Center -
Child and Family Advocacy Award (2003)
Dolly Parton received an honorary doctorate
of humane and musical letters from the
University of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN on
May 8, 2009 for her philanthropic works.[48]
Image
Parton has turned down several offers to
pose for Playboy magazine’s similar publica-
tions, although she did appear on the cover
of Playboy’s October 1978 issue wearing a
Playboy bunny outfit, complete with ears.
Breast-obsessed
filmmaker Russ Meyer
wanted to make movies about her 40DD
breasts. The association of breasts with Par-
ton’s public image is illustrated in the nam-
ing of Dolly the sheep after her, since the
sheep was cloned from a cell taken from an
adult ewe’s mammary gland.[49][50]
On a 2003 broadcast of The Oprah Win-
frey Show, Winfrey asked what kind of cos-
metic surgery Parton had undergone. Parton
stated that she felt that cosmetic surgery was
imperative in keeping with her famous im-
age, but jokingly admitted, "If I have one
more facelift, I’ll have a beard!" Parton has
repeatedly joked about her physical image
and surgeries, saying, "If I see something
sagging, bagging, and dragging, I’m going to
nip it, tuck it, and suck it. Why should I look
like an old barn yard dog if I don’t have to!"
and "It takes a lot of money to look this
cheap." (The latter comment often referred to
her clothing style and make-up, as well as
her surgeries.) Her size 40DD breasts also
got her into several songs in the 1980s and
1990s, including "Dolly Parton’s Hits" by
Bobby Braddock, "Talk Like Sex" by Kool G
Rap and DJ Polo, and "Dolly Parton’s Tits" by
MacLean & MacLean.
Press agent Lee Solters represented Par-
ton and would say he knew her "since she
was flat-chested".[51]
Discography
Filmography
Film
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1980
Nine to Five Doralee
Rhodes
Nominated -
Golden
Globe
Award for
Best Actress
– Motion
Picture
Musical or
Comedy
1982
The Best
Little
Whorehouse
in Texas
Mona
Stangley
Nominated -
Golden
Globe
Award for
Best Actress
– Motion
Picture
Musical or
Comedy
1984
Rhinestone
Jake
1989
Steel
Magnolias
Truvy
Jones
1992
Straight
Talk
Shirlee
Kenyon
1993
The Bever-
ley
Hillbillies
Herself
cameo
appearance
2002
Frank
McKlusky,
C.I.
Edith
McKlusky
2005
Miss Con-
geniality 2:
Armed and
Fabulous
Herself
cameo
appearance
Television
Year
Show
Role
Notes
1967 -
1974
The Porter
Wagoner
Show
regular
singer
1976 -
1977
Dolly!
host
1978
Cher...
Special
herself
Nominated -
Primetime
Emmy
Award for
Individual
Performance
in a Variety
or Music
Program
1981
The Lily
Tomlin
Special
herself
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dolly Parton
11
1986
A Smoky
Mountain
Christmas
Lorna
Davis
1987
Alvin and
the
Chipmunks
herself
1987 -
1988
Dolly
host
1988
Bob Hope’s
Christmas
Special
herself
1990
Designing
Women
The
Guardian
Movie
Star
two epis-
odes; "The
First Day of
the Last
Decade of
the Entire
20th Cen-
tury: Part 1"
&
"Part 2"
Babes
Herself
cameo ap-
pearance
one episode;
"Hello
Dolly"
1991
Wild Texas
Wind
Thiola
"Big T"
Rayfield
1994
Heavens to
Betsy
Betsy
Baxter
Big Dreams
and Broken
Hearts: The
Dottie West
Story
Herself
cameo
appearance
1995
Naomi &
Wynonna:
Love Can
Build a
Bridge
Herself
guest
performer
Unlikely
Angel
Ruby
Diamond
1996
The Magic
School Bus
Katrina
Eloise
one episode;
"The Family
Holiday
Special"
1997
Get to the
Heart: The
Barbara
Mandrell
Story
Herself
cameo
appearance
Blue Valley
Songbird
Leanna
Taylor
The
Simpsons
Herself
cameo ap-
pearance
one episode;
"Sunday,
Cruddy
Sunday"
1999
Jackie’s
Back
Herself
cameo
appearance
2000
Bette
Herself
cameo ap-
pearance
one episode;
"Halloween"
2005
Reba
Dolly
Majors
one episode;
"Reba’s
Rules of
Real Estate"
2006-2007 Hannah
Montana
Aunt
Dolly
two epis-
odes; "Good
Golly Miss
Dolly"
(2006) & "I
Will Always
Loathe You"
(2007)
See also
• Academy of Country Music
• Country Music Association
• Country Music Hall of Fame
• List of country music performers
• List of best-selling music artists
• Chasing Rainbows
Footnotes
[1] ^ Omaha World Herald article: "Dolly
Parton coming back in Omaha on
Monday".
[2] Whitburn, Joel (2005). Top Country
Songs. Menomonee Falls, Wisc.:
Springer. pp. 578. ISBN 0-89820-165-9.
[3] Bronson, Fred (2006-02-23). "Chart
Beat". Billboard.
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/
esearch/
article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002073817.
Retrieved on 2009-04-29.
[4] "Dolly Parton Music.net".
http://www.dollypartonmusic.net/
aboutdolly.html. Retrieved on
2009-04-29.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dolly Parton
12
[5] "Dolly Parton discography".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Dolly_Parton_discography. Retrieved on
2009-04-29.
[6] "’Going’ All The Way To No. 1, Dolly’s
25th!". Dollymania. 2006-02-22.
http://www.dollymania.net/
archive022006.html. Retrieved on
2009-04-29.
[7] ’Dolly, My Life and other Unfinished
Business,’ Dolly Parton, 1994, p 4.
[8] ’Sevier County, Tennessee and Its
Heritage’, Waynesville, NC, Walsworth
Pub., 1994, p 306.
[9] (Belfast Telegraph, 2007)
[10] "Dolly Parton talks new album, tour",
CNN, July 9, 2002.
[11] "Backwoods glam", The Washington
Times, December 1, 2006.
[12]Cash 1998, p. ??.
[13]Whitburn 2005, pp. 108, 422.
[14]Nash 1978, pp. 64–70.
[15]http://www.smokykin.com/ged/f004/f84/
a0048409.htm
[16]Parton 1994, p. 142.
[17]^ PARTON&sql=11:wiftxql5ldde~T1
"Dolly Parton at Allmusic"
[18] "Dolly Parton Reflects on Her Greatest
Moments", CMT, July 7, 2006.
[19]^ PARTON&sql=11:wiftxql5ldde~T1
Dolly Parton biography at Allmusic
[20]^ Dolly Parton biography at CMT.com
[21] "Review: Backwoods Barbie,"
"Christianity Today"
[22] "Janet Dethrones Jack To Top Billboard
200" Billboard Online, March 5, 2008"
[23] "Dollymania FAQ - No 2"
[24] "Dolly Parton website"
[25]^ "Dolly Parton Online - Tour and
Concert Tickets"
[26] "Dollymania FAQ No. 2", accessed
August 10, 2008.
[27] "Dolly Parton to be Honored as BMI
ICON at Country Awards", BMI News,
November 2, 2003.
[28]Songwriters Hall of Fame press release
announcing 2001 inductees, April 16,
2001
[29] "Dolly Parton Speaks Out; Variety
Entertainer Danny Gans Does
Impressions and Talks About Comedy".
CNN LARRY KING LIVE. March 7, 2009.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/
TRANSCRIPTS/0903/07/lkl.01.html.
[30] "9 to 5 The Musical"
[31] Jones, Kenneth."Hello, Dolly! 9 to 5
Books Broadway’s Marquis; Full Casting
Announced", Playbill.com, July 15, 2008
[32] [1]
[33]Playbill News: A Cup of Ambition: 9 to 5
Musical Takes Next Step in NYC Reading
with Neuwirth, Janney, Block
[34] "Dollymania FAQ No. 30"
[35]The Book Lady
[36] "Feb. 16-23: He Said, She Said". Yahoo!
Music. February 19, 2008.
http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/
thatsreallyweek/36767/feb-16-23-he-said-
she-said/.
[37]http://www.designingwomenonline.com/
Episodes/Four.html
[38] "Dolly Parton interview". US*99.5’s
Morning Show hosts Lisa Dent &
Ramblin’ Ray. 2007-11-02.
[39] "Dollymania FAQ - No 24"
[40] "Dollymania FAQ No 23", accessed May
1, 2009
[41]Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library,
official website
[42]Details of Canadian Scheme
[43]Penguin USA (2006) Dolly’s Dixie Fixin’s:
Love, Laughter and Lots of Good Food at
Amazon.com, ASIN: B000SSP25C
[44]Dolly’s Dixie Fixin’s, official website.
[45] "Parton pledges $500,000 to hospital".
USA Today. 2006-12-13.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/
2006-12-13-parton_x.htm.
[46] "Dollymania - Awards"
[47]Fischer, Audrey. "Dolly Parton, Living
Legend". Library of Congress.
http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/0405-6/
song.html.
[48]Mansfield, Duncan (May 8, 2009). "Just
call her ’Dr. Dolly’: Parton receives
Ph.D.". The Associated Press (Yahoo!
News). http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/
20090508/ap_on_en_mu/
us_people_dolly_s_degree.
[49] "Naming of Dolly the Sheep". BBC.
February 22, 1997.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/
stories/february/22/newsid_4245000/
4245877.stm.
[50] "Dolly was world’s hello to cloning’s
possibilities". usatoday. July 4, 2006.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/
genetics/2006-07-04-dolly-
anniversary_x.htm. Retrieved on
2007-10-18.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dolly Parton
13
[51]Martin, Douglas. "Lee Solters, Razzle-
Dazzle Press Agent, Dies at 89", The
New York Times, May 21, 2009.
Accessed May 22, 2009.
Bibliography
• Cash, Johnny (1998). CASH; the
Autobiography.
• Nash, Alanna (1978). Dolly. Los Angeles,
CA: Reed Books. ISBN 0891695230.
• Parton, Dolly (1994). Dolly: My Life And
Other Unfinished Business. Harper
Collins. ISBN 0060177209.
• Whitburn, Joel (2005). Top Country Songs
1944-2005. Billboard/Record Research
Inc.. ISBN 0898201659.
Further reading
• Miller, Stephen (2008), Smart Blonde:
Dolly Parton, Onmibus Press, ISBN
978186097607
• Nash, Alanna (2002), Dolly: The
Biography, Cooper Square Publishers, Inc,
ISBN 9780815412427
• Pasternak, Judith Mahoney (1998), Dolly
Parton, Sterling Pub Co, Inc., ISBN
9781567995572
External links
• Dolly Parton Music (official music site)
• Dolly Parton.com (official site)
• Dolly Parton On-Line
• Dolly Parton at the Internet Movie
Database
• Dolly Parton discography at MusicBrainz
• Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
• Dolly Parton (Legacy Recordings Page)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly_Parton"
Categories: American buskers, American businesspeople, American country singers, American
country singer-songwriters, American female singers, American female guitarists, American
film actors, American memoirists, English Americans, Female guitarists, Scots-Irish Americ-
ans, Appalachian culture, Grammy Award winners, Country Music Hall of Fame inductees,
Grand Ole Opry members, Kennedy Center honorees, People from Sevier County, Tennessee,
Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees, Musicians from Tennessee, United States National
Medal of Arts recipients, 1946 births, Living people
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Dolly Parton
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