Dolly Parton in 1965.
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album, Hello, I'm Dolly, was released in 1967, commencing a career spanning 60 years and 50 studio albums. Her forty-ninth solo studio album, Rockstar (2023), became her highest-charting Billboard 200 album, peaking at number three.
Described as a "country legend", Parton has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Her music includes Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)-certified gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards. She has had 25 singles reach No. 1 on the Billboard country music charts, a record for a female artist (tied with Reba McEntire). She has 44 career Top 10 country albums, a record for any artist, and she has 110 career-charted singles over the past 40 years. Parton has composed over 3,000 songs, including "I Will Always Love You" (a two-time U.S. country chart-topper, and an international hit for Whitney Houston), "Jolene", "Coat of Many Colors", and "9 to 5". As an actress, she has starred in the films 9 to 5 (1980) and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), for each of which she earned Best Actress Golden Globe nominations, as well as Rhinestone (1984), Steel Magnolias (1989), Straight Talk (1992), and Joyful Noise (2012).
Parton received the National Medal of Arts in 2005 and will be honored with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 2025. She has received various accolades, including eleven Grammy Awards, ten Country Music Association Awards (including Entertainer of the Year, making her one of only seven female artists to achieve this honor), five Academy of Country Music Awards (also including Entertainer of the Year), four People's Choice Awards, three American Music Awards, and two Emmy Awards, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and a Tony Award.
Parton is one of the few performers to receive at least one competitive nomination for each EGOT award (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony). With her Grammy and Emmy wins, along with her non-competitive Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (an honorary Oscar), she is only a Tony Award away from achieving EGOT status. Outside of her work in the music and film industries, she also co-owns The Dollywood Company, which manages a number of entertainment venues including the Dollywood theme park, the Splash Country water park, and a number of dinner theater venues such as The Dolly Parton Stampede and Pirates Voyage. She has founded a number of charitable and philanthropic organizations, chief among them being the Dollywood Foundation, who manage a number of projects to bring education and poverty relief to East Tennessee, where she was raised.
