Dolly Parton, the nation music star who rose from grinding poverty in Tennessee to turn out to be a rhinestone-studded cultural icon with hits like Jolene and 9 to five, has died at 80, her household stated on Wednesday.
Dolly Parton performing in 1974. Supply: Getty / Michael Ochs ArchivesDolly Parton with Johnny Money (left) and Ronnie Milsap. Internet hosting a present at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, Money launched a 13-year-old Parton as “a bit of lady right here from up in East Tennessee”. Supply: Getty / Bettmann Archive
Dolly Rebecca Parton was born on 19 January 1946 in Sevierville, Tennessee, the fourth of 12 kids who grew up dirt-poor within the household’s small shack within the Nice Smoky Mountains.
Parton’s work with collaborator and co-producer Porter Wagoner reworked her sound, launching her profession. Supply: Getty / Michael Ochs Archives
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With time, Parton’s relationship with Wagoner would fray, ending in a 1979 authorized battle over royalties. Supply: Getty / Michael Ochs Archives
Parton was greater than a singer — she wrote 3,000 songs, acted in main Hollywood movies and donated hundreds of thousands of {dollars} to charities in her dwelling state and past.
Dolly Parton and her rarely-seen, long-time associate, Carl Dean. They married within the mid Nineteen Sixties and had been collectively till his demise at 82 in 2025. Supply: Getty / Vinnie ZuffanteDolly Parton’s stage persona — of a glowing, peroxide blonde bombshell — was rigorously crafted by Parton herself as a part of a wildly profitable enterprise technique. Supply: Getty / Richard E Aaron
She was additionally an completed businesswoman, together with her pursuits spanning from her fashionable Dollywood theme park to cosmetics, pet attire, baking mixes and even a truck cease.
Dolly Parton maintained a roster of voluminous wigs and rhinestone-covered jumpsuits. Supply: Getty / David RedfernAs a performer, Dolly Parton was a combination of Southern allure, humour and glamour. However followers additionally thought of her a feminist function mannequin for holding the reins of her personal profession in an leisure world dominated by males. Supply: Getty / Richard McCaffrey
Throughout a prolific profession that spanned six many years, Parton penned hits reminiscent of Jolene, Coat of Many Colors and the enduring ballad I Will All the time Love You, which grew to become a global success for Whitney Houston.
Parton famously wrote two of her most well-known nation requirements, Jolene and I Will All the time Love You, on the identical day. Supply: Getty / Richard E AaronBy the late Seventies, Parton had transitioned to a extra pop music sound, a contentious transfer on the time. Supply: Getty / Paul Natkin
By no means one to downplay her placing appears to be like, Parton primarily wrote the guide on how a lady can rule the airwaves in a male-dominated business, with songs lined by everybody from Shania Twain to Sinead O’Connor.
Parton recorded arguably her most well-known duet, Islands within the Stream, with Kenny Rogers in 1983. Supply: AAP / AP / Doug PizacDolly Parton’s friendship with Kenny Rogers would final till his demise in 2020. Supply: Getty / Rick Diamond
The US singer-songwriter, actress, businesswoman and philanthropist did not appear to thoughts being mistaken for a ditzy blonde all too wanting to play up her appears to be like, after rising up poor in rural Tennessee.
Parton was godmother to singer Miley Cyrus. The pair carried out Jolene on the 61st annual Grammy Awards in 2019. Supply: AAP / AP / Matt SaylesDolly Parton launched the Creativeness Library, a kids’s literacy scheme, as a part of her Dollywood theme park in Tennessee. Supply: AAP / Rui Vieira
On the peak of her fame, she reached primary on the pop charts, with songs like Islands within the Stream, and starred in Hollywood blockbusters 9 to five, for which she sang the insuppressible title monitor, and Metal Magnolias.
Dolly Parton’s Dollywood theme park (seen right here in 1993) remains to be a significant financial driver for the Southern Appalachian area. Supply: Getty / Ron DavisDolly Parton ran the majority of her enterprise operations from her workplace in Nashville, a website which was additionally used for the occasional photoshoot. Supply: AAP / AP / John Russell
She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Corridor of Fame in November 2022.
Parton initially turned down the honour, saying she felt she hadn’t earned it. She launched a rock album, Rockstar, in 2023, which she referred to as an try to justify the induction.
Dolly Parton was probably the most embellished musicians of all time, and an everyday nominee at music awards reveals throughout her lengthy profession. Supply: AAP / AP / Matt SaylesDolly Parton was a very prolific artist. In her profession, she produced 49 studio albums, 4 collaborative albums, 9 dwell albums, six soundtrack albums, one prolonged play and roughly 222 compilation albums globally. Supply: Getty / NBCUniversal
Affording her the form of honour given to main state figures, US President Donald Trump ordered flags throughout the nation to be lowered for every week to mark what he referred to as a “true loss for hundreds of thousands of individuals”.
Followers have mourned Dolly Parton’s passing close to her star on the Hollywood Stroll of Fame. Supply: AAP / EPA / Chris Torres
— With Agence France-Presse.
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