- Name: Dolly Parton
- Date of Birth: January 19, 1946
- Place of Birth: Sevierville, Tennessee, USA
Mini-bio:
Born one of 12 children to a backwoods Tennessee family, savvy Dolly Parton has risen from relative poverty to become one of the most famous and wealthy country music stars in the world. Easily recogn... read more
Dolly Parton Wiki Profile
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Singer, songwriter, author and actress, Dolly Rebecca Parton was born in Locust Ridge, Sevier County,Tennessee to Robert Lee Parton (a tobacco farmer) and Avie Lee Parton (née Owens). Dolly grew up in a run down farm in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, she is the fourth eldest of 12 children. At an eary age, Dolly learned to escape the hardships of life through her vivid and far-ranging imagination. Before she learned to read and write, she was "making up" her own songs. She got her first guitar when she was 8 and began singing on a Knoxville, Tenn., radio station at age 11. That same year, she made her first recording on Gold Band Records, a tiny independent label. She made a name for herself locally while still in high school, but she dreamed of a bigger stage. In 1964 the day after she graduated high school she immediately moved to Nashville to launch a musical career.
Dolly fell in love with Carl Dean who ran a paving business, the couple married on May 30, 1966 at a small chapel in Ringold, Georgia and are still together to this day.
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Singer, songwriter, author and actress, Dolly Rebecca Parton was born in Locust Ridge, Sevier County,Tennessee to Robert Lee Parton (a tobacco farmer) and Avie Lee Parton (née Owens). Dolly grew up in a run down farm in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, she is the fourth eldest of 12 children. At an eary age, Dolly learned to escape the hardships of life through her vivid and far-ranging imagination. Before she learned to read and write, she was "making up" her own songs. She got her first guitar when she was 8 and began singing on a Knoxville, Tenn., radio station at age 11. That same year, she made her first recording on Gold Band Records, a tiny independent label. She made a name for herself locally while still in high school, but she dreamed of a bigger stage. In 1964 the day after she graduated high school she immediately moved to Nashville to launch a musical career.
Dolly fell in love with Carl Dean who ran a paving business, the couple married on May 30, 1966 at a small chapel in Ringold, Georgia and are still together to this day.
Her first charting records on Monument Records included "Dumb Blonde" and "Something Fishy," both in 1967. At about this time, Porter Wagoner was looking for a new "girl singer" for his syndicated television show. Dolly accepted the job in 1967, signed with RCA Records in 1968 and joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1969. However, she left Wagoner's show in 1974, because her solo releases were out-charting their collaborations. After their split, Dolly wrote the song "I Will Always Love You" for Wagoner, and it reached No. 1 for the first time in 1974.
As a solo artist, Dolly garnered the CMA's female vocalist award in 1975 and 1976 and won the entertainer trophy in 1978. Still, her TV variety series lasted only one season, in 1976. Her musical style grew closer to pop music, but fans responded as "Here You Come Again" spent five weeks at No. 1 in 1978. She also grew more interested in movies, starring in 1980's 9 to 5 for which the title song earned her an Oscar nomination, and 1982's Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Taken from the Whorehouse soundtrack, "I Will Always Love You" reached No. 1 again in 1982. A Bee Gees-written duet with Kenny Rogers, "Islands in the Stream," topped the country charts in 1983.
Dolly returned to her acoustic roots when she recorded the 1987 landmark album Trio with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt. Four of its singles reached the Top 10, and "To Know Him Is To Love Him" reached No. 1. After signing with Columbia Records, she returned to No. 1 as a solo artist in 1989 with "Why'd You Come in Here Lookin' Like That." That same year, she starred in the hit movie Steel Magnolias with Olympia Dukakis, Daryl Hannah, Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine and Julia Roberts.
Dolly's greatest commercial fortune of the 90s, and probably of all-time, came when Whitney Houston recorded "I Will Always Love You" for The Bodyguard soundtrack, and both the single and the album were massively successful. In 1993, she recorded the album Honky Tonk Angels with Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette.Dolly re-recorded "I Will Always Love You" with Vince Gill, and they won a CMA award for vocal event in 1996. Taken from the album Trio II, a cover of "After the Gold Rush" won a Grammy for best country collaboration with vocals in 1999, and Dolly was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame later that year.
However, she was frustrated by her fruitless attempts to secure a solo hit single during this decade. Instead, she teamed with respected independent label Sugar Hill Records and offered the back-to-basics acoustic album The Grass Is Blue in 1999. An instant favorite among critics and longtime fans, it won the International Bluegrass Music Association's album of the year and a Grammy for best bluegrass album. She followed it with Little Sparrow in 2001 and Halos & Horns in 2002. The patriotic For God and CountryLive and Well a year later.
In 2006, Dolly earned her second Oscar nomination for "Travelin' Thru," which she wrote specifically for the film Transamerica. She also returned to No. 1 on the country charts lending her distinctive harmonies to the Brad Paisley ballad, "When I Get Where I'm Going," and appeared in 2003 and was followed by the CD and DVD was honored by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for her lifetime of contributions to the arts in December that same year. In June 2007 Dolly was named the recipient of the prestigious Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriter's Hall of Fame. In 2008, Dolly released her album Backwoods Barbie which reached number 2 in the US country chart and independent chart, it was also the first album released on her on label 'Dolly Records'.
In 1985 Dolly opened the Dollywood theme park, to this day it remains among the most popular vacation destinations in the South. She has also donated more than 1 million books to pre-school children across the United States with her non-profit Dollywood foundation Imagination Library (earning her the nickname 'The Book Lady') and provides scholarships to high school students in Sevier County, Tennessee. In return, the county honored her with a life-size bronze statue in front of the courthouse. Dolly regards this as her "greatest honor, because it came from the people who know me."
As a solo artist, Dolly garnered the CMA's female vocalist award in 1975 and 1976 and won the entertainer trophy in 1978. Still, her TV variety series lasted only one season, in 1976. Her musical style grew closer to pop music, but fans responded as "Here You Come Again" spent five weeks at No. 1 in 1978. She also grew more interested in movies, starring in 1980's 9 to 5 for which the title song earned her an Oscar nomination, and 1982's Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Taken from the Whorehouse soundtrack, "I Will Always Love You" reached No. 1 again in 1982. A Bee Gees-written duet with Kenny Rogers, "Islands in the Stream," topped the country charts in 1983.
Dolly returned to her acoustic roots when she recorded the 1987 landmark album Trio with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt. Four of its singles reached the Top 10, and "To Know Him Is To Love Him" reached No. 1. After signing with Columbia Records, she returned to No. 1 as a solo artist in 1989 with "Why'd You Come in Here Lookin' Like That." That same year, she starred in the hit movie Steel Magnolias with Olympia Dukakis, Daryl Hannah, Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine and Julia Roberts.
Dolly's greatest commercial fortune of the 90s, and probably of all-time, came when Whitney Houston recorded "I Will Always Love You" for The Bodyguard soundtrack, and both the single and the album were massively successful. In 1993, she recorded the album Honky Tonk Angels with Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette.Dolly re-recorded "I Will Always Love You" with Vince Gill, and they won a CMA award for vocal event in 1996. Taken from the album Trio II, a cover of "After the Gold Rush" won a Grammy for best country collaboration with vocals in 1999, and Dolly was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame later that year.
However, she was frustrated by her fruitless attempts to secure a solo hit single during this decade. Instead, she teamed with respected independent label Sugar Hill Records and offered the back-to-basics acoustic album The Grass Is Blue in 1999. An instant favorite among critics and longtime fans, it won the International Bluegrass Music Association's album of the year and a Grammy for best bluegrass album. She followed it with Little Sparrow in 2001 and Halos & Horns in 2002. The patriotic For God and CountryLive and Well a year later.
In 2006, Dolly earned her second Oscar nomination for "Travelin' Thru," which she wrote specifically for the film Transamerica. She also returned to No. 1 on the country charts lending her distinctive harmonies to the Brad Paisley ballad, "When I Get Where I'm Going," and appeared in 2003 and was followed by the CD and DVD was honored by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for her lifetime of contributions to the arts in December that same year. In June 2007 Dolly was named the recipient of the prestigious Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriter's Hall of Fame. In 2008, Dolly released her album Backwoods Barbie which reached number 2 in the US country chart and independent chart, it was also the first album released on her on label 'Dolly Records'.
In 1985 Dolly opened the Dollywood theme park, to this day it remains among the most popular vacation destinations in the South. She has also donated more than 1 million books to pre-school children across the United States with her non-profit Dollywood foundation Imagination Library (earning her the nickname 'The Book Lady') and provides scholarships to high school students in Sevier County, Tennessee. In return, the county honored her with a life-size bronze statue in front of the courthouse. Dolly regards this as her "greatest honor, because it came from the people who know me."
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| Full name: | Dolly Rebecca Parton |
| Height: | 5' (152 cm) although Dolly says she can reach, "5' 1", 5' 2" if I'm standing up straight on a good day." |
| Hair: | Blonde |
| Eyes: | Blue-Green |
| Nicknames: |
DP: "They have served me well, I don't know if Im supporting them or they're supporting me. - I've always had nice ones. But of course I've had them jacked up a bit!" |
| Notable features: | Big boobs, big hair/wigs |
| Trademark: | Butterfly: Dolly has always used the free spirited butterfly as her logo, as she feels they represent freedom and beauty |
| Star sign: | Western - Capricorn Chinese - Rooster |
| Nationality: | American |
| Family: | Father: Robert Lee Parton Mother: Avie Lee Caroline (née Owens) Parton Sisters:
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| Education: | Sevier County High School, Sevierville, TN, USA |
| Resides in: | Willow Lake Plantation, Brentwood, TN, USA Nashville, TN, USA Smoky Mountains, Sevier County, TN, USA Los Angeles, CA, USA (including a Malibu beach home) New York City, NY, USA (apartment) an apartment on the grounds at Dollywood |
| Religious affiliation: | Dolly was raised Pentecostal Although she has never spoken publicly about her commitment to any one faith, she professes to be a Christian. But Dolly says she's not a very "religious" person, she's more "spiritual." |
| Political affiliation: | On most issues Dolly refuses to discuss politics. She says she's "more patriotic than political." |
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