Dolly Rebecca Parton

Dolly Rebecca Parton was born on January 19 1946 in Pittman Center, Tennessee and raised in Sevierville, Tennessee to Avie Lee Parton, a housewife and Robert Lee Parton, a tobacco farmer. When she was 12, she was performing on Knoxville TV and at 13 she had already begun recording for an obscure label and performing at the Grand Ole Opry. She relocated to Nashville in 1964 to begin her country music career after graduating from high school. Carl Dean, a asphalt-paving company owner, was her first lover. They got married on May 30 the 30th of May, 1966. Porter Wagoner hired her in 1967 to sing on his show, The Porter Wagoner Show (1961). She was on the show for seven years. Her duets made waves and she was part of Porter Wagoner's band at the Grand Ole Opry. She also sold records and performed on tour. The hit song "Joshua" that reached the top spot in 1970 was her biggest hit single. She made the decision to go on her own, even though she still recorded duets with the singer. In 1974, she quit him to be a solo artist. Dolly gained immense popularity as a songwriter/singer. Dolly won numerous Country Music Association awards (1968 1970, 1970 and 1971, 1975, 1976). The petite (5'0") beauty was an ideal candidate for TV at the time, and by the middle of the 1970s she was appearing frequently on TV specials and talk programs before she got her own, Dolly (1976). Dolly got her first Grammy award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 1977 for "Here You Come Again". Dolly made her movie debut in 9 to 5, 1980. The film received nominations for an Oscar for the title track along with Grammy Awards 2/3: Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance. More fame came from her appearances in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), as in Rhinestone (1984), with the song "Tennessee Homesick Blues". Dolly Parton Enterprises, worth $100 million, is her chief. Dollywood was established in Pigeon Forge in Tennessee in 1986 in celebration of her Smoky Mountain heritage. She appeared as herself in Dolly, the Dolly (1987) television series. In 1988, she was awarded another Grammy: Best Country Performance Duo or Group with Vocals for "Trio".