Then & Now: Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton has long been a force of good in the world, from her immaculate songs like “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You” to her philanthropy to even her authorship and movie roles.

But with so much life and experience, one might wonder how the whole story breaks down decade by decade. How did Parton break into the scene, develop her career, and become the angelic star that she is today? Let’s dive into Parton’s beloved career, from the mountains of rural Tennessee to the global stage.

[RELATED: American Songwriter November Cover Story: Dolly Parton—The Eternal Artist]

1940 and 1950s

Born on January 19, 1946 in tiny-tiny-tiny Pittman Center, Tennessee (population of about 500 people), Dolly Rebecca Parton grew up poor with a big family of nearly a dozen kids. In the shadow of the Great Smokey Mountains, Parton learned to sing thanks to her mother and other family members. She got her first guitar at eight years old, a gift from her uncle.

Her career, as it was, began when she started singing around age 10, even performing on the radio, and singing on The Cas Walker Show in Knoxville. By 13, she was recording songs, even playing at the Grand Ole Opry, where she met an encouraging Johnny Cash who told her to pursue her dreams.

1960s

Parton moved to Nashville the day after she graduated high school in 1964. As she explained to American Songwriter, “I wanted to be able to do things. To do for the people in my home area. I just wanted to see the world. I didn’t want to stay in the mountains, as proud as I was of them and my people.”

It was around this time that she began writing for other people. With the help of her songwriting uncle, Bill Owens, Parton penned the 1966 song, “Put It Off Until Tomorrow,” which hit No. 6 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. With that success and the fact that other big names like Hank Williams Jr. were cutting her songs, Parton released her debut LP, Hello, I’m Dolly, in 1967.

That album included her hit single, “Dumb Blonde,” which was Parton’s first recording to hit the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. Also in 1967, popular country entertainer Porter Wagoner invited Parton to be part of his show. Together, they thrived as a duet for several years.

In 1966 she married her now-longtime husband, Carl Thomas Dean.

1970s

This decade really got things going for Parton. She released her hit single, “Coat of Many Colors” in 1971 and that song hit No. 4 on the country charts. She released “Jolene” in 1973 and then in 1974, as Parton wanted to forge a full-time solo career, she wrote the professional breakup song, “I Will Always Love You.”

As the decade progressed, Parton won a Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for her album, Here You Come Again. She also released more popular songs like “Heartbreaker,” “Baby I’m Burning” and “You’re the Only One,” steadily increasing her massive discography with each passing day. In 1978 she appeared on the cover of Playboy (but did not pose nude in the magazine).

1980s

The decade began with Parton’s participation in the workday film, 9 to 5, in which she co-starred (along with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin). Parton also wrote the film’s theme song of the same name, which has since become one of her most signature songs. In 1982, she starred in the popular movie, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

In 1987, Paton enjoyed some more musical success with the release of the LP, Trio, which she made in collaboration with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt. That record sold several million copies and earned the artists the Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and a nomination for Album of the Year.

In 1986, Parton opened Dollywood, a theme park that employs many in the Pigeon Forge, Tennessee area, and now also has a big wildlife preservation aspect of its mission.

1990s

By now—you might want to sit down for this—Parton has released 44 albums either as a solo artist or in collaboration with others. And in the 1990s, Parton released another 10 records to go with those 44. In 1993, she released Honky Tonk Angels with Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette.

Also during the 1990s, Parton released Trio II with Ronstadt and Harris. That 1999 LP included a cover of Neil Young’s “After the Gold Rush,” which earned the three artists another Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. That same year, Parton was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

To complete the epic year of 1999, Parton released the bluegrass LP, The Grass Is Blue, which won her a Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album.

2000s and 2010s

While never unpopular, the turn of the new millennium was more of a “lean” era for Parton. In the two decades, she released nine albums, including Little Sparrow in 2001, For God and Country in 2003, and Backwoods Barbie in 2008.

Perhaps the highlight of the era, though, and the spark to Parton’s even more celebrated 2020s was her appearance in 2019 at the Newport Folk Festival, a musical occasion she had (for some odd reason) never performed at prior. She was backed by Brandi Carlile’s The Highwomen and Linda Perry.

2020s

Dolly kicked off the new decade with a viral social media post, captioning this collection of four photos with the phrase, “Get you a woman who can do it all.” Later that year, Parton released her first holiday album in three decades, A Holly Dolly Christmas. Around this time, she helped with the production of the COVID-19 vaccine, donating $1 million for research to Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Two years later, in 2022, Parton was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, despite at first declining the offer, saying that she was a country artist, not a rock one. Nevertheless, the Hall insisted and she acquiesced. Later this year, she will be releasing her third LP of the 2020s, Rockstar, out in November. That album will feature collaborations with Paul McCartney, Ringo, Elton John, Sheryl Crow, (Parton’s goddaughter) Miley Cyrus, and more.

Also in 2022, Dolly became a best-selling author as part of her co-writing of the novel, Run, Rose, Run with prolific writer, James Patterson. Today, as of this very minute, despite not wanting to be put “on a pedestal,” she is one of the most beloved and popular people on Earth.

Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images