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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFILE – Dolly Parton poses at the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy Ceremony in New York, on Oct. 13, 2022. (AP Photo\/Andres Kudacki, File)<\/p>\n
She got her first No. 1 solo single with \u201cJoshua,\u201d and reached the Top 5 with the ballad \u201cCoat of Many Colors,\u201d about how her mother sewed together scraps of clothes to make a coat Parton wore \u201cso proudly\u201d even as her peers mocked her for being poor. The song, with its Biblical references and ode to maternal love, was later made into a children\u2019s book and a TV movie.<\/p>\n
In 1973, she had the hit that made her career \u2014 \u201cJolene,\u201d a country music standard with its steady, churning rhythm and Parton\u2019s repeated delivery of the title as she pleads for the woman not to steal her man.<\/p>\n
The song topped the country charts, crossing over to pop and later being released internationally, opening up new audiences for Parton. \u201cJolene\u201d is one of her most covered compositions, including by Miley Cyrus (Parton\u2019s goddaughter), Olivia Newton-John and The White Stripes.<\/p>\n
She left Wagoner\u2019s show in 1974, amid reports of squabbling between the two, although they continued to record together and Wagoner stayed her producer for years after that. But the relationship turned litigious when Wagoner sued her in 1979 for millions in management fees and royalties.<\/p>\n
A push into pop music brought her first Grammy<\/p>\n
She followed \u201cJolene\u201d with a huge hit in 1974, \u201cI Will Always Love You,\u201d an ode and farewell to Wagoner that helped her win the Country Music Association\u2019s female vocalist of the year back-to-back in 1975 and 1976. She famously turned down Elvis Presley, who wanted to record it, because she would not share publishing rights.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Decades later, Whitney Houston\u2019s version of \u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d became a smash for the soundtrack of her 1992 film \u201cThe Bodyguard,\u201d and broke sales records. Houston won a Grammy for her performance in 1994, presented to her by Parton.<\/p>\n \u201cHere You Come Again,\u201d a pop crossover hit and one of the few she didn\u2019t write, further established Parton as a multi-genre entertainer and brought her first Grammy Award in 1979.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people thought I had totally lost my mind,\u201d she told The Associated Press in 1979 of changing her singing style. \u201cBut I had no fear of change. I expected success, but I was braced for failure. I didn\u2019t care if people thought I was wrong. In my own heart, I knew I was doing the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Parton\u2019s other crossover hits included the title song from \u201c9 to 5,\u201d the 1980 comedy starring Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin; and her duet with longtime friend Kenny Rogers, \u201cIslands in the Stream,\u201d written by brothers Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees. In 1987, she collaborated with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris on the million-selling \u201cTrio\u201d album.<\/p>\n Rhinestones and wicked humor helped her cut a unique figure<\/p>\n For millions of fans, she was simply \u201cDolly,\u201d a mixture of Southern charm, humor and glamour. But she was also considered a feminist role model for holding the reins of her own career, writing her own songs, owning her content and looking after her finances in an entertainment world dominated by men.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Parton was open to making fun of herself; when she hosted \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d in 1989 she told the writers that her only restrictions were she wouldn\u2019t curse and she wouldn\u2019t make fun of Jesus. She regularly joked about her breasts or her dumb blonde appearance, but with a wink that she was the one controlling the laughs. In the memoir \u201cMy Life So Far,\u201d Fonda remembered Parton\u2019s way with a wisecrack, \u201cusually high raunch,\u201d and a laugh that was \u201csomewhere between a girl\u2019s giggle, an explosive shriek, and a cascade of little bells.\u201d<\/p>\n After her gown split down the front when she won CMA\u2019s entertainer of the year in 1978, Parton quipped: \u201cMy Daddy said that\u2019s what I got for putting 50 pounds of mud in a five-pound bag.\u201d<\/p>\n Throughout her career, she embraced a glamorous style, often wearing custom curve-hugging rhinestone dresses and bodysuits even if they drew tsk-tsks from others in the industry. Her look was always a part of her larger musical business plan.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew my songs were good even if I had been ugly as sin,\u201d she told the AP in 2014. \u201cSo I thought, \u2018Well, I would have probably chose to look this way even if I had been a waitress.\u2019 I mean, this is my look. I mean, I like a lot of makeup. I like a lot of hair. I like flashy clothes. I like to show it off. But that\u2019s just who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n She married Carl Dean, an asphalt paving contractor, in the mid-1960s; they were together until his death in 2025 at the age of 82. Though rarely seen in public, he was an influence on her career. She told NPR that she wrote \u201cJolene\u201d about a flirty bank teller who seemed to take an interest in Dean.<\/p>\n \u20189 to 5\u2019 took her to Hollywood, and then Broadway<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t In her first major film role, Parton played alongside Fonda and Tomlin as office workers who rebel against their tyrannical boss in \u201c9 to 5.\u201d Critic Roger Ebert called her a \u201cnatural-born movie star\u201d and the title song earned her two Grammy Awards and a ranking of 78 on the American Film Institute\u2019s list of top 100 movie songs. Starring roles in \u201cThe Best Little Whorehouse In Texas\u201d and \u201cSteel Magnolias\u201d followed.<\/p>\n \u201cI never thought of myself as a movie star,\u201d she told AP\u2019s Bob Thomas in 1979. \u201cI knew I\u2019d be a star, but as a singer or as a writer of songs or books or poetry. I wanted to be a famous performer and wear flashy clothes, but singing in movies was not one of my ambitions. My family lived in the mountains and we didn\u2019t see movies.\u201d<\/p>\n Her love affair with TV and film continued for decades, with appearances alongside Cyrus on \u201cHannah Montana\u201d and adaptations of her music for Christmas specials, films and streaming series. She also became an author, her books ranging from the memoir \u201cDolly\u201d to a bestselling novel co-authored by James Patterson, \u201cRun, Rose, Run.\u201d<\/p>\n The stage adaptation \u201c9 to 5: The Musical\u201d debuted in 2009, and \u201cDOLLY: A True Original Musical\u201d is set to open Jan. 19, 2027, on what would have been her 81st birthday.<\/p>\n She presided over a United States of Dolly<\/p>\n Beyond her music, Parton\u2019s most lasting legacy might be her generosity and broad appeal.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDolly Parton performs in concert in Tokyo, July 30, 1979. (AP Photo\/Tsugufumi Matsumoto, file)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDolly Parton speaks during a news conference for her show Dolly: An Original Musical on Jan. 28, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo\/George Walker IV)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDolly Parton appears at an event to celebrate the expansion of the Imagination Library of Kentucky at the Lyric Theatre in Lexington, Ky., on Aug. 27, 2024. (AP Photo\/Timothy D. Easley, file)<\/p>\n