Few artists have reached the cult status that Dolly Parton has. The Tennessee native has become nothing short of a legend and, despite performing and singing pretty much for her entire life, she still loves entertaining her legions of fans.
Now, Dolly Parton has always been known for her amazing outfits on stage, as well as her extensive makeup. She has also gone on record before as to the reason why she’s never actually seen in public without her public.
Here’s all you need to know about the magnificent country star, Dolly Parton!
Dolly Parton was born in Locust Ridge, Tennessee, on January 19, 1946. She grew up somewhat poor in Locust Ridge, near the Great Smoky Mountains, as one of 12 children. As one can imagine, money was an issue.
Dolly Parton – early life
However, music became something that bonded her family. Her mother sang and played guitar, and when Parton learned more about music by performing in church at a young age.
“Music was such a large part of our whole family,” Parton recalled. “All of my mama’s people were musical. They all played some musical instrument. Of course, I took my music real serious, and I was always plucking along on somebody’s instrument — whatever they would leave lying around or whenever my family would come. But I always loved the guitar.”
Eventually, Dolly got a guitar from her uncle. Before long, she had started to write songs of her own.
By age 10, she had performed on several local television and radio stations in Knoxville, Tennessee. Then, at age 13, she made her debut on the national country radio station, Grand Ole Opry, earning about $20 a week.
Family and music walked hand in hand for the Partons. In fact, it was her uncles that helped her take the next step in her musical journey.
“I had two uncles who played — Uncle Bill, who helped me get into the business, and Uncle Lewis, who was also a great guitar player,” she said. “He had this little Martin guitar that I loved, so when he saw how serious I was about my music, he gave me his little Martin guitar. It was my treasure.”
Moved to Nashville
Parton went to high school and graduated, becoming the first in her family to do so. But in 1964, at 18, she decided to focus entirely on her music career. So Dolly left home and headed to the Mecca of the country music scene, Nashville.
“I had a dream,” she said. “And I had a talent, I thought. And I really believed it was going to happen.”
In Nashville, Dolly quickly became a star. She worked with Porter Wagoner on The Porter Wagoner Show, and the duo became very popular. Parton and Wagoner released several country hits together, and she soon got a contract with RCA Records. In 1971, Parton landed her first No. 1 country hit, Joshua, and several more hits followed. One of them was, of course, Jolene.
Parton got the idea in the late 1960s when she usually signed autographs for the audience after whatever television show she was on.
“One night, I was on stage, and there was this beautiful little girl — she was probably 8 years old at the time,” Parton recalled.
Dolly Parton – ‘Jolene’
The inspiration for the song’s lyrics, meanwhile, came from a bank teller showing Parton’s new husband some interest.
“She got this terrible crush on my husband,” Parton said. “And he just loved going to the bank because she paid him so much attention. It was kinda like a running joke between us — when I was saying, ‘Hell, you’re spending a lot of time at the bank. I don’t believe we’ve got that kind of money.’ So it’s really an innocent song all around, but sounds like a dreadful one.”
The song Jolene only has 200 words in it. However, it became one of the biggest hits of the 20th century. Dolly Parton reached No. 1 on the charts, and the song was nominated for two Grammy Awards for Best Female Country Vocal Performance (both studio and live versions).
Also, Jolene was ranked No. 217 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”, released in 2004.
Hits and awards
She won her first Grammy in 1977 with Here You Come Again, and more hits followed.
In the 1980s, Dolly broadened her audience by heading into the film industry.
She starred alongside Jane Fonda in the 1980 hit comedy 9 to 5, for which she also contributed with the soundtrack. More film appearances followed, and in 1986, she even opened her amusement park, Dollywood, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Dolly claims to have written more than 3,000 songs in her career. Meanwhile, she sold over 100 million albums, topped the country chart 25 times, and won a staggering eight Grammy Awards. And she’s showing no signs of slowing down.
“Almost every day I come up with a few song titles or a sweet melody,” Parton told BBC in 2016.
“I’m 16 in some ways. I’m still a hopeless romantic. But I’m 35 in my spirit and in my mind. When I was 35, it was a pinnacle, a great time in my life – success and happiness and all that. And so I just decided ‘I’m gonna claim that number and always be that in my state of mind.’”
