In the collection
3 records
Played with
About
American country singer, songwriter, and actress, born on January 19, 1946, in Locust Ridge, Tennessee, USA; died on August 25, 2026, in Nashville, Tennessee, USA (age 80).
She made her first solo record, a rockabilly song, in 1959 at the age of 13 on the Goldband Records label. She went on in 1962 to make one soul pop single “The Love You Gave” () for the Mercury Records label. In 1964, she went on to sing for the Monument label. She first sang the pop single “.” Then made the (blue-eyed) soul single “,” which hit the 1965 bubbling under charts. Then made the (blue-eyed) soul singles “” and “.” In 1966, she scored a No. 1 hit with Bill Phillips on the Decca Records label. In 1966, after being forced by her previous labels to sing soul and pop, she began to sing country. She had her first top 100 hits “Dumb Blonde” () and “Something Fishy” (). In 1967, she replaced the country singer Norma Jean on the Porter Wagoner Show as the “girl singer.” In 1968, she switched to RCA Victor label, and scored her first No. 1 solo hit “.” She made singles for RCA Victor until 1987 when she made singles for the Columbia Records label. After that, she made singles for her own Blue Eye Records label, and one single for the Decca Records label.
She acted in the films “9 To 5”, “The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas”, “Steel Magnolias”, “A Smoky Mountain Christmas”, “Christmas Of Many Colors: Circle Of Love”, “Gnomeo and Juliet”, “Joyful Noise”, and “Straight Talk”. Her composition “I Will Always Love You,” written in 1974, became a worldwide hit for Whitney Houston in 1993. In the mid-1980s, she opened her own theme park called “Dollywood.” In 1988, created the Dollywood Foundation, and in 1995, the Imagination Library. And received the Songwriters Hall of Fame Johnny Mercer Award in 2007.
Daughter of Avie Lee and Robert Lee Parton; granddaughter of Jake Robert Owens; sister of Willadeene Parton, Stella Parton, Cassie Parton, Randy Parton, Freida Parton, Floyd Parton, and Rachel Dennison; aunt of Jada Star, Heidi Parton, Bryan Seaver, Rebecca Seaver, and Hannah Dennison.
Niece of Dorothy Jo Hope, Estelle Watson, John Henry III, Louis Owens, and Bill Owens; First cousin of Richie Owens, Jeff Owens, Dale Puckett, Dwight Puckett, and Debbie Jo Puckett.
Honorary godmother of Miley Cyrus.
Studios: Fireside Studios.