Dolly Rebecca Parton is a multiple award-winning American singer, actress, and songwriter who is best known for country music performances. She is also an author, multi-instrumentalist, businesswoman, and philanthropist.
As aid towards research work for the coronavirus pandemic, Dolly had donated $1 million to the Vanderbilt University and asked others who could afford to do the same. In Nov 2020, it was announced that her donation had contributed towards development of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine. On hearing it, she stated that she felt proud and happy to have done something to help eradicate the pandemic.
In December, she is also slated to release her first Christmas album in 3 decades titled ‘A Holly Dolly Christmas’. Her Christmas movie ‘Christmas On The Square’ also premiered on Netflix in late 2020.
Parton also released the critically acclaimed book ‘Songteller: My Life In Lyrics’ in Dec 2020. The book provides an insight into 175 of her thousands of songs and the stories behind them. It also features personal photographs of her life as well as the inspirations behind each of the stories mentioned.
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Dolly Parton – Net Worth
As of 2021, Parton’s net worth is estimated to be a staggering $600 million. She has accumulated this fortune via her artistry, investments, and entrepreneurial skills. For example, Dollywood, her theme park, welcomes nearly 3 million visitors annually and is one of the most visited parks in America.
Dolly Parton – Age and Early Life
Dolly was born on January 19, 1946 in Pittman Center, Tennessee, US, near the Little Pigeon River. She is the 4th of 12 children; two of her siblings have passed away. Her mother Avie Lee Caroline was a housewife and her father Robert Lee Parton Sr. worked as a sharecropper and later as a landowning tobacco farmer. He also worked construction jobs for additional income.
Her father was illiterate, but according to Dolly he was really smart and knew how to turn a profit in a business. Her mother used to sing ancient ballads and Smoky Mountain folklore to her and her siblings when she was a kid. She has credited her father for her business acumen and her mother for her musical artistry.
The Parton family moved to Locust Ridge, Tennessee, when she was a young girl and she had most of her childhood experiences there. She has stated that her family was “dirt poor”. The family lived a subsistence life in a rustic cabin with one bedroom for almost 7 years. Dolly repurchased the property in the late eighties and rehabilitated it.
Jake Owens, her mother’s father, was a Pentecostal preacher. Hence, she and family regularly attended church. It was at church that she first performed publicly at age 6 years. She started playing the guitar when she was 7 years old.
Before the age of 10, Parton had begun singing in local TV and radio stations in the East Tennessee region. At age 13, she first met Johnny Cash who asked her to follow her instincts and dreams.
In 1964, she graduated from Sevier County High School and moved to Nashville the following day.
Career
After relocating to Nashville, Parton signed a contract with Combine Publishing. She began as a songwriter and became successful.
After becoming a successful songwriter, Dolly released her debut album “Hello, I’m Dolly” in 1967. She sang duets with Porter Wagoner and solo songs during the late 60s, both of which were commercially successful. Her success as a singer peaked and continued in the 70s and the 80s, but declined in the 90s. She however found success again in the 2000s after releasing albums on independent studio labels. She even launched her own label named Dolly Records.
Parton has composed more than 3,000 songs, which include “I Will Always Love You”; Whitney Houston’s version of the song was a runaway international hit. Her music has achieved platinum, gold, and multi-platinum selling records. She has over 40 Top Ten country albums, 25 ‘Billboard country music charts’ number 1 songs, and more than 100 charted singles. She has had 50 Grammy Award nominations with 10 wins, including the Lifetime Achievement Award; 5 Academy of Country Music Awards; Ten Country Music Association Awards; 3 American Music Awards; and 4 People’s Choice Awards. She is one of the only 7 female artists to have won the Entertainer of the Year Award offered by the Country Music Association Awards. Parton was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999.
Parton has acted in numerous TV shows and movies such as The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, 9 to 5, Rhinestone, Straight Talk, Joyful Noise, and Steel Magnolias. She has received Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress and an Emmy award nomination.
Dolly Parton – Young Pictures
Personal Life and Trivia
- Dolly married Carl Thomas Dean on May 30, 1966 in Ringgold, Georgia. Her professional name may be Dolly Parton, but the name on her passport is Dolly Parton Dean.
- Carl used to run an asphalt road-paving company in Nashville and is retired. He has always shunned publicity. He rarely goes with his wife to celebrity events; Parton has stated that he has attended only one of her live performances. But she has revealed that Dean is a very romantic husband who loves to surprise her.
- She had endometriosis which was treated with a hysterectomy. The couple has no children. But they helped raised many of Dolly’s siblings, which has resulted in her nephews and nieces calling her ‘Aunt Granny’.
- She is also the godmother of Miley Cyrus.
- She has undergone several rounds of plastic surgery
- Dolly started the Dollywood Foundation to support humanitarian efforts, especially in the area of literacy.
- She was approached by Playboy Magazine to pose nude many times, but she always turned it down. In October 1978, she finally appeared on the cover but in a full Playboy bunny suit.