Dolly Parton | |
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 Parton in 2010 | |
| Born | Dolly Rebecca Parton January 19, 1946 |
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| Years active | 1955–present |
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Carl Dean (m. 1966) |
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| Awards | Full list |
| Musical career | |
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| Discography | |
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| Website | dollyparton |
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Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily for her decades-long career in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album debut in 1967 with Hello, I'm Dolly, which led to success during the remainder of the 1960s (both as a solo artist and with a series of duet albums with Porter Wagoner), before her sales and chart peak arrived during the 1970s and continued into the 1980s. Some of Parton's albums in the 1990s did not sell as well, but she achieved commercial success again in the new millennium and has released albums on various independent labels since 2000, including her own label, Dolly Records.
With a career spanning 60 years, Parton has been described as a "country legend" and has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time.[2][3] Parton's music includes Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)-certified gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards. She has had 25 singles reach No. 1 on the Billboard country music charts, a record for a female artist (tied with Reba McEntire). She has 44 career Top 10 country albums, a record for any artist, and she has 110 career-charted singles over the past 40 years. She has composed over 3,000 songs, including "I Will Always Love You" (a two-time U.S. country chart-topper, and an international hit for Whitney Houston), "Jolene", "Coat of Many Colors", and "9 to 5". As an actress, she has starred in the films 9 to 5 in 1980 and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas in 1982 (for each of which she earned Best Actress Golden Globe nominations) as well as Rhinestone in 1984, Steel Magnolias in 1989, Straight Talk in 1992, and Joyful Noise in 2012.
Parton has received 11 Grammy Awards (and 50 nominations), including the Lifetime Achievement Award. She has won ten Country Music Association Awards, including Entertainer of the Year. She is one of seven female artists to win the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year Award. Parton has five Academy of Country Music Awards (including Entertainer of the Year), four People's Choice Awards, and three American Music Awards. She is also in a select group to have received at least one nomination from the Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, Tony Awards, and Emmy Awards. In 1999, Parton was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 2005, she received the National Medal of Arts, and in 2022, she was nominated for and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a nomination she had initially declined but ultimately accepted.
Outside of her work in the music industry, she also co-owns The Dollywood Company, which manages a number of entertainment venues including the Dollywood theme park, the Splash Country water park, and a number of dinner theatre venues such as The Dolly Parton Stampede and Pirates Voyage. She has founded a number of charitable and philanthropic organizations, chief among them being the Dollywood Foundation, who manage a number of projects to bring education and poverty relief to East Tennessee, where she was raised.
- ^ "Dolly Parton to release new album, Blue Smoke, in the US on May 13, 2014" Archived April 21, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, websterpr.com; accessed May 10, 2014.
- ^ Blistein, Jon (November 20, 2023). "Dolly Parton Updates Her Classic 'Jolene' for Her Rock & Roll Era". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
- ^ Yahr, Emily (October 17, 2023). "Dolly Parton was told 'gaudy' clothes would hurt her career. She doubled down". Washington Post. as much a part of her empire's origin story as her legendary singing (more than 100 million records sold; the first female country singer to sell 1 million copies of an album). Retrieved January 20, 2024.