Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton – born January 19, 1946, in Pittman Center, Tennessee - was renowned worldwide as a country singer, chart-topping songwriter, businesswoman, and actress. Raised in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. she moved to Nashville after high school and initially worked as a songwriter for artists like Skeeter Davis. She then joined country music star Porter Wagoner on his weekly TV show, and the singer’s seven-year collaboration transformed her into a major star. As a solo artist, she achieved success with several hit singles including the Number 1 hits “Joshua” (1970) and “Jolene” (1973). When she left the popular TV show in 1974, she wrote one of her most famous songs, the number 1 hit "I Will Always Love You," as a parting gift to Wagoner. The song would later gain new life when it was re-recorded for the 1982 film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Dolly Parton’s 1977 album Here You Come Again signaled her move into pop, where her humor and exaggerated blonde image seduced mainstream audiences. The record's title track won her a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance, and Dolly Parton went on to gain film roles for her developing acting career. The movie 9 to 5 was released in 1980, with the accompanying soundtrack song of the same title giving her a Number 1 hit on Billboard's country, pop, and adult contemporary charts, and making her one of the only female artists to ever achieve a triple Number 1. More hits followed in the form of 1983's "Islands in the Stream" with Kenny Rogers, 1984's "Tennessee Homesick Blues," and 1985's "Think About Love." She then joined up with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt in 1987 to release Trio, a collaborative album that won a Grammy for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group. Dolly Parton transitioned into bluegrass on albums such as The Grass Is Blue (1999), Little Sparrow (2001), Halos & Horns (2002), and Those Were the Days (2005). She remained active on the road and released albums such as 2016's Pure & Simple and 2020's A Holly Dolly Christmas, both topping the Top Country Albums Chart. Her forty-eighth solo album, Run, Rose, Run, followed in 2022, debuting at Number 1 on the UK's Country Albums chart. That same year, she was nominated to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Dolly Parton initially declined the nomination because she did not consider herself a rock and roll artist but changed her mind and was inducted later that year. In response to the induction, she decided to record a rock album – titled Rockstar - and enlisted the help of musical collaborators including Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Sting, John Fogerty, Ann Wilson, Steven Tyler, Stevie Nicks, Michael McDonald, Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo, Peter Frampton, Rob Halford, and many others. Slowly releasing tracks throughout 2023, Rockstar became one of the most highly anticipated albums of the year. The following year, Dolly Parton released Smoky Mountain DNA: Family, Faith and Fables (2024), a compilation that celebrated five generations of her paternal and maternal families. The album combined archival recordings with updated elements, allowing Dolly Parton to duet and perform with family members that had long since passed. Following a duet with Sabrina Carpenter on "Please Please Please" in 2025, Dolly Parton was hospitalized at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, where she died on August 25, 2026, at the age of 80.