The beginning of this legendary country singer was a life not that of the rich but of that sort where one strives hard to keep food on the table. Dolly Rebecca Parton was born in January 19, 1946 on Sevierville, Tennessee. Living in a poor dilapidated one room cabin with eleven siblings, her mother Avie Lee Parton- a housewife and father-Robert Lee Parton a tobacco farmer can only afford to keep food in their stomachs. She described their life at that time as “dirt poor”. Her song “coat of many colors” describes her poor experience in her childhood. Since Parton’s parents are Pentecostal, religion has a great influence in her music.
As a child, she is already performing in the local radio and television in East Tennessee. At young age of 9 years old, she showed her appearance in the Cas Walker Show. She signed her contract for her debut album with Gold band Records at the age of 13. But Parton cherishes the importance of education so she patiently finished high school. Right after graduating in 1964, she moved to Nashville where she met a guy named Carl Dean who runs an asphalt paving business. This guy later became her husband on May 30, 1966. Although Dean doesn’t like publicity and rarely accompanies Parton during her performances, He simply loves Parton in simple and romantic ways such as writing poems for her. They never had children but their marriage had lasted up to now.
Parton is also a songwriter. She wrote songs for famous country artists like Hank Williams Jr. and Skeeter Davis. In 1965, her dream to become a singer was fully recognized. She signed with the Monument Records company as a pop star and owned her one national chart single entitled “happy happy birthday, baby”. After her performance in the “Porter Wagoner” show where she released her first album “Hello, I’m Dolly”. Dolly has stayed with Wagoner’s show for 7 years and she immediately became famous. Her first country single “Dumb Blonde” ranked number 24 in the country music charts (1967). In 1970, her single “Joshua” placed number 1 which made her decide to try out in the world of country music alone. In 1974, she left the show after performing their last concert with Wagoner.
Dolly Parton’s country music is very successful. Her signature song “Coat of many colors” ranked number four in the country charts. “Jolene” was her blockbuster song and it ranked number one in the singles chart in 1974 and ranked number 7 in the UK singles chart in 1976. Her song “I will always love you” skyrocketed to number one in 1974. Dolly Parton has received numerous awards such as Best female country Vocal performance and 5 Country music association awards. In the 1970s, her popularity flourished as she is constantly appears on television. She got an Oscar Nomination for writing the title tune in the movie “Nine to five”. Dolly Parton’s country songs are still very well known today, they are considered as one of the best country music of aall time.
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