Dolly Parton

Her Story

Dolly Parton was born into poverty in a small hamlet in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, one of twelve children. "I remember the time we didn't have electricity in the early days," she once recalled — hardship her family met with music always in the house, and, on both the Parton and Owens sides, what she described as a great sense of humor.

She began writing songs and singing on local radio as a child, and moved to Nashville the day after she graduated high school in 1964, breaking into a country music industry where few women succeeded as both singer and songwriter. Hitmaker Porter Wagoner brought her onto his television program as his duet partner — a traditional role her wit and magnetism soon outgrew — and in 1974 she struck out on her own.

As a solo artist she moved easily between sentimental ballads and the pop and disco-tinged sounds of the late 1970s, all carried by her high, honeyed voice, racking up dozens of country hits along the way. Hollywood followed, with starring roles in "9 to 5," "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," and "Steel Magnolias." She built Dollywood in the mountains that raised her, and cultivated the piled-high wigs, stiletto heels, and rhinestone glamour she liked to call "a country girl's idea of glamour" — once joking, "It takes all I make to keep up my appearance. You'd be amazed at the price of industrial bras."

Dolly Parton died peacefully in Nashville on August 25, 2026, at the age of 80. Her representatives remembered her simply: "A rhinestone life that shone bright enough for the world to see, Dolly will forever stand as an inspiration."

Sourced from NPR's obituary for Dolly Parton