Dorothy

Here are some of the defining moments of Ms. Parton’s seven-decade career: Jan. 19, 1946 — Born in rural Sevier County, Tennessee, one of 12 children raised in poverty by a father who could not read or write. The family later moved to a farm on nearby Locust Ridge, the childhood home she memorialized in “My Tennessee Mountain Home.” Childhood — Began performing publicly around age 10 on local radio and television in Knoxville, and moved to Nashville the day after graduating high school to pursue music full time. 1966 — Married Carl Dean, a Nashville paving contractor she’d met outside a laundromat on her first day in the city. The couple, who had no children, remained married for nearly 60 years and largely stayed out of the public eye together.

That same year, Porter Wagoner invited Parton to join his weekly television show, replacing an outgoing Norma Jean. The duo began recording together, releasing a string of hits over the course of six years. Signed to RCA, Parton continued to release solo work, which was not as successful as her work with Wagoner—but many of the songs would go on to become more popular. In 1970, she finally scored a solo hit single with a version of the classic corn pone tune “Mule Skinner Blues” (replete with whip cracks and yodeling). With the release of “Joshua” in 1971, Parton had her first chart-topper that she composed herself.

“I Will Always Love You” marked an important step for Parton as an independent businesswoman. She was approached by Col. Tom Parker, saying that Elvis Presely was eager to record the song. He is said to have sung it to Priscilla Presley as their divorce was finalized. But to make a deal, Presely would require half of the publishing rights. Parton declined, just a day before the scheduled session—a risky move at the time that secured a great fortune for the future.

She was funnier than I expected, and warmer. Parton’s artifice – the look, the folksiness, the ready quips – was clearly part of her armour. You can deflect any tricky question, or criticism, with a well timed boob joke. But somehow it didn’t feel fake. It was her creation, but it was still her. I had no illusions I’d get to the real Parton, whatever that was, in our hour together – she even went to bed with her makeup on, she said, because she didn’t want to go to bed “looking tacky” for her husband.

“I don’t think about my life in terms of ‘superstar.’ I’m just a workin’ girl. I always say - and it’s the truth - that I am a workhorse that looks like a show horse. But I gotta keep it all up and I enjoy all of it. My husband always said, ‘If anybody was ever born to be a star, it’s you.’” (May 2025)

In 1977, Parton began producing her own recordings, beginning with the album New Harvest…First Gathering, which saw her incorporating more pop elements into her sound. She became a mainstay on television specials throughout the late 1977s, flashing her winning smile and sharp wit, oftentimes punching back at “just jokin’” barbs about her appearance. No one was quicker to make cracks about her own bustline than Dolly Parton.

In 1980 Parton co-starred in the feminist comedy 9 to 5 with Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, and also recorded its theme song. A monumental success, the song remains so ingrained in American culture that many people still quote from it without even realizing it. The song won two Grammys in the country categories, but lost song of the year to “Bette Davis Eyes”—which is a good song, but come on.

Parton ended the decade with another non-musical hit burnishing that reputation: the 1989 comedy-drama Steel Magnolias, which again placed her in an all-star cast, this time including Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, Daryl Hannah, and a young Julia Roberts. It would be easy enough to assume, based on her two biggest movie successes, that her fortunes were lifted by acting alongside various luminaries. But the truth is, Parton rose to meet the level of her more experienced co-stars. Most of the movies that seemed more specifically designed to play to her strengths weren’t as successful, for her or others involved. Perhaps most prominently, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas followed 9 to 5, and shared with it director Colin Higgins.

The following year, Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt joined forces to release Trio, a platinum-selling album of (mostly) cover songs, which also won Parton her fourth Grammy Award. Her 1989 album White Limozeen included the hit “Why’d You Come in Here Lookin’ Like That” and a bluegrass cover of REO Speedwagon’s “Time for Me to Fly,” closing out a monumental decade.

Three years on I’ve softened towards Parton’s refusal to add to the noise, to label herself, to take sides, to inevitably alienate and polarise and condemn. Deeds not words. Parton’s deeds – living as a feminist, if not calling herself one, and her philanthropy, and of course her music – speak for themselves. I had it for an hour in that hotel room, just the hack who happened to be chosen for that assignment, but we were all lucky to be touched by Parton’s light.

Jolene, her unforgettably raw and desperate plea to a rival lover, was released in 1973 and became her first UK success, reaching No 7. I Will Always Love You, written to Wagoner as a farewell after their creative partnership, was a country No 1 in 1974 and again via a re-recorded version in 1982, and would go on to be a huge pop success when revived by Whitney Houston for the soundtrack of The Bodyguard in 1992: it is still the bestselling single of all time by a woman, with an estimated 20m sales.