In this article, Even if it took her some time to integrate the term into her multicolored coat of many colors, Dolly Parton has always been a rock star. It all started last year when Parton had an unconventional opinion about her Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nomination. Parton rejected it, thinking she wasn’t deserving of the accolade (a very Sex Pistols gesture).
She would, however, go on to graciously accept her induction at the yearly event, which culminated in a pledge to produce a rock album to validate her skill with acrylics on electric guitar. Rockstar, that masterwork, has nine original songs and twenty-one covers of nearly every name in the traditional repertoire. (Hell, she brought the living together.)
Strangely, Dolly Parton’s most recent album is also her 49th in her discography. We don’t, however, know all about her extensive, multi-decade career. The legendary country singer and businesswoman would much rather express most of her feelings and convictions through her songs. “Every aspect of me is contained in a song if you’re interested in learning more about me and my life,” she says.
“Because it’s me, I always write a little bit about myself without realizing it. My songs are who I am, coiled and twisted in and out of them. This philosophy has influenced Dolly Parton at every point in her career, beginning with her 1967 Nashville debut, Hello, I’m Dolly; her ascent to fame in Hollywood in the late 1970s; and her current position at Rockstar. Dolly Parton’s exaggerated style, which favors rhinestones and sky-high hair, and her short Dollyisms may make us chuckle, but she is a prodigious storyteller when it comes to her trade. She claims that while many individuals can sing, not everyone can compose songs for others to sing.
Early Years and Origins
Dolly Parton, born in Sevier County, Tennessee, on January 19, 1946, rose to fame from humble beginnings. She was raised in a cabin in the Smoky Mountains and learned to value endurance, effort, and kindness.
As a child, Dolly loved music and sang with her family throughout the hills. Her musical talent inspired her to pursue her dreams despite challenges.
She is a Gifted Vocalist
At the age of 10, Dolly Parton was apprehensive about performing on stage, but she sang passionately at her radio debut. She has since performed all around the world and recorded hundreds of songs, many of which have garnered prizes. Millions of listeners love her voice on the radio and streaming sites.
She’s a Gifted Song Writer
Dolly Parton wrote Grammy-winning songs “Jolene,” “I Will Always Love You,” and “9 to 5.” She wrote about 3,000 songs! How could that be true? Author of “Unlikely Angel: The Songs of Dolly Parton,” Lydia Hamessley teaches music at Hamilton College in New York. She says “Dolly has new song ideas all the time, like when she’s cooking, traveling in her bus, and even in the bathtub.” “She sings her melodies into a cassette tape recorder and keeps paper and a pen in every room to jot down new lyrics.”
She Works Diligently
Dolly Parton, a ball of boundless energy, gets up at three every morning and works long hours. She puts her all into every performance and endeavor, which has resulted in wonderful connections and a great deal of success.
She is Giving
Dolly Parton established her Imagination Library to honor her father, who was illiterate and has given children over 197 million books. Her $1 million donation will go towards supporting coronavirus vaccine research. She also gives money, education programs, and scholarships to families in need in the impoverished Tennessee community where she was raised.
She is a Prosperous Corporate Executive
Apart from owning the 1986-opened Dollywood theme park, Parton has also entered into commercial partnerships with Netflix, Williams-Sonoma, the retailer of culinary supplies (think guitar-shaped cookie cutters), Duncan Hines, the bakery brand known for its Southern banana cake, and other businesses.
She is a Genuine Person
Parton is at ease with who she is. She’s not afraid to speak her mind or to dress however she pleases, whether it be in glistening gowns or enormous shoes. Her admirers enjoy her sincerity and friendliness.
She is a Motivating Role Model
Her family was poor when she was a child. Parton could not afford voice lessons, let alone a guitar, but she had aspirations of becoming a singing star. Using an old mandolin and some rusty piano strings, she created her guitar and entertained her siblings (as well as a few pigs) on the porch. I hope her perseverance encourages you to go after your goals!
Parton’s Sound Inspirations
Traditional Appalachian folk, country, and bluegrass music have all had a significant influence on Parton’s life, albeit occasionally being eclipsed by the more glamorous parts of her public persona. This is true to a far bigger extent than one might assume from observing the majority of her career. Parton clarified in a 1999 interview: “I was always around music as a child; everyone I knew played guitars, banjos, mandolins, and violins. Thus, such were a common sight in my family, often lying around for the kids.
I was particularly smitten with the banjo… I’m a banjo player when my artificial fingernails come off. the clawhammer look of the past. When I was younger, I could get a move on it.” Parton had a wide variety of musical inspirations in her early years, but it wasn’t until the late 1990s that she recorded three bluegrass-inspired albums—The Grass Is Blue, Little Sparrow, and Halos & Horns—that she truly embraced and paid tribute to her bluegrass heritage.
Nonetheless, her previous work still bears some of her influences. Two of the tracks (“Two Little Orphans” and “Little Blossoms”) on one of her first albums, Hits made famous by Country Queens (1963), are classic Appalachian ballads, while Parton wrote another song (“Letter to Heaven”) in a similar ballad style.
She wrote several songs during her Victor recording years that reflected her love of traditional music and her Appalachian heritage. These comprised a few tracks from her 1973 album My Tennessee Mountain Home, “Coat of Many Colors” (1971), “Down from Dover” (1970, re-recorded for her album Little Sparrow), and “My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy” (1969).
Early country, honky tonk, Appalachian music, gospel and bluegrass, and even jazz and blues, are just a few of the musical experiences from Dolly Parton’s formative years that come through in her releases, whether they are straight-up country-pop records or ones that pay homage to her heritage. Music critics and academics acknowledge Parton’s songs’ remarkable blend of influences, frequently observing many genres incorporated into a single verse or chorus.
Dolly Parton’s music is so distinctive and fulfilling because of a combination of her early exposure to Appalachian music, her upbringing in the Nashville tradition, her experiences listening to spirituals in church, her early years spent listening to country music on the radio, and her years spent immersed in the genre.