Dolly Parton

American singer, songwriter, and actress

Dolly Parton was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was one of the best-selling artists of all time, having released more than 40 Top 10 country albums and written over 3,000 songs. She was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys in 2011.

Parton’s music career took off when she partnered with country artist Porter Wagoner in the late 1960s, becoming a regular on his weekly TV show and achieving significant success through their collaborative hits. She then began to find solo success in the early ’70s, releasing what would become one of her signature hits Jolene in 1973. Other notable singles include the Grammy winners 9 to 5, After the Gold Rush (with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt) and Shine, plus Coat of Many Colors, Islands in the Stream with Kenny Rogers, I Will Always Love You (later a global smash as a cover by Whitney Houston), Here You Come Again and TYRANT with Beyoncé.

Parton won her first Grammy Award in 1979, for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female for the album Here You Come Again, and her other albums include Jolene, Coat of Many Colors, 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs, and The Grass Is Blue, plus the collaboration albums Once Upon a Christmas with Rogers, and Trio and Trio II with Harris and Ronstadt. She took roles in the films 9 to 5 and Steel Magnolias. In 2023, she hosted her own four-part What Would Dolly Do? Radio series on Apple Music. Parton passed away in 2026 at age 80.