Dolly Parton

Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946[2] ) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, actress, author, and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music.

Beginning her career as a child performer, Parton issued a few modestly successful singles from 1959 through the mid-1960s, showcasing her distinctive soprano voice. She came to greater prominence in 1967 as a featured performer on singer Porter Wagoner's weekly television program; their first duet single, a cover of Tom Paxton's "The Last Thing on My Mind", was a top-ten hit on the country singles charts, and led to several successful albums before they ended their partnership in 1974. Moving towards mainstream pop music, Parton's 1977 single "Here You Come Again" was a success on both the country and pop charts. A string of pop-country hits followed into the mid-1980s, the most successful being her 1981 hit 9 to 5" (from the film of the same name), and her 1983 duet with Kenny Rogers "Islands in the Stream", both of which topped the U.S. pop and country singles charts. A pair of albums recorded with Linda Ronstadt andEmmylou Harris were among her later successes. In the late 1990s, Parton returned to classic country/bluegrass with a series of acclaimed recordings.

Non-musical ventures include the creation of Dollywood, a theme park in the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee, and her efforts on behalf of childhood literacy, particularly her Imagination Library.

She has composed over 3,000 songs,[3]  the best known of which include "I Will Always Love You" (a two-time U.S. country chart-topper for Parton, as well as an international pop hit for Whitney Houston), "Jolene", "Coat of Many Colors","9 to 5", and "My Tennessee Mountain Home". Parton is one of the most successful female country artists of all time,[4]  with an estimated 100 million in record sales.[5]

As an actress, she starred in the movies 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Rhinestone, Steel Magnolias, Gnomeo & Juliet, Straight Talk, Unlikely Angel, and Joyful Noise. ==Early years == Parton was born in Sevierville, Tennessee, the fourth of twelve children of Robert Lee Parton, a tobacco farmer, and his wife Avie Lee (née Owens).[6] [7]  She has described her family as being "dirt poor".[8]  She outlined her family's poverty in her early songs "Coat of Many Colors" and "In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)". They lived in a rustic, one-room cabin in Locust Ridge, just north of the Greenbrier Valley, in the Great Smoky Mountains in Sevier County, a predominantly Pentecostal area.

Music played an important role in her early life, and her grandfather was a Pentecostal "holy-roller" preacher.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[9]  Many of her early performances were in church, along with her family. ===Career discovery<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;direction:ltr;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left:-0.25em;margin-right:0.25em;color:rgb(85,85,85);"> === <p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Parton started performing as a child, singing on local radio and television programs in the Eastern Tennessee area. By age nine, she was appearing on The Cas Walker Show on both WIVK Radio and WBIR-TV in Knoxville, Tennessee. At thirteen, she was recording (the single "Puppy Love")<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[10]  on a small Louisiana label, Goldband Records, and appeared at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. It was at the Opry that she first met Johnny Cash, who encouraged her to follow her own instincts regarding her career.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[11]  The day after she graduated from high school in 1964, Parton moved to Nashville.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Parton's initial success in Nashville came as a songwriter, having signed with Combine Publishing shortly after her arrival;<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-12" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[12]  with her frequent songwriting partner, her uncle Bill Owens, she wrote a number of charting singles during this timeframe, including two top ten hits: Bill Phillips' 1966 record "Put it off Until Tomorrow", and Skeeter Davis' 1967 hit "Fuel to the Flame". Her songs were also covered by a number of other artists, including Kitty Wells and Hank Williams Jr during this period.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-13" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[13]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Parton signed with Monument Records in late 1965, where she was initially pitched as a bubblegum pop singer;<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[14]  she released a string of singles, though the only one that charted, "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby", nonetheless did not crack the Billboard Hot 100.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Though she expressed a desire to record country material, Monument resisted, thinking her unique voice with its strong vibrato was not suited to the genre. It was only after her composition, "Put It Off Until Tomorrow," as recorded byBill Phillips (and with Parton, uncredited, on harmony), went to number six on the country music charts in 1966, that the label relented and allowed her to record country. Her first country single, "Dumb Blonde" (one of the few songs during this era, that she recorded but did not write), reached number twenty-four on the country music charts in early 1967, followed the same year with "Something Fishy", which went to number seventeen. The two songs anchored her first full-length album, Hello, I'm Dolly. ===Marriage<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;direction:ltr;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left:-0.25em;margin-right:0.25em;color:rgb(85,85,85);"> === <p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">On May 30, 1966, she and Carl Thomas Dean (born July 20, 1942 in Nashville, Tennessee) were married in Ringgold, Georgia.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-15" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[15]  She had met Dean at the Wishy-Washy Laundromat two years earlier on her first day in Nashville. His first words to her were: "Y'all gonna get sunburnt out there, little lady."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-16" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[16]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Dean, who runs an asphalt road-surface-paving business in Nashville, has always shunned publicity and rarely accompanies her to any events. According to Parton, he has only ever seen her perform once. However, she has also commented in interviews that, although it appears they do not spend much time together, it is simply that nobody sees him. She has also commented on Dean's romantic side, claiming that he will often do spontaneous things to surprise her and sometimes even writes poems for her.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-17" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[17]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The couple partly raised several of Parton's younger siblings at their home in Nashville, leading her nieces and nephews to refer to her as "Aunt Granny". She has no children of her own. Parton is also the godmother of actress and singer Miley Cyrus.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-18" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[18]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">On May 30, 2011, they celebrated their 45th anniversary. Later, she said, "We're really proud of our marriage. It's the first for both of us. And the last."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-19" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[19] ==Music career<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;direction:ltr;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left:-0.25em;margin-right:0.25em;color:rgb(85,85,85);"> == ===1967–75: Country music success<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;direction:ltr;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left:-0.25em;margin-right:0.25em;color:rgb(85,85,85);"> === <p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In 1967, country entertainer Porter Wagoner invited Parton to join his organization, offering her a regular spot on his weekly syndicated television program The Porter Wagoner Show, as well as in his road show.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">As documented in her 1994 autobiography,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-allMusicGuide_20-0" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[20]  initially, much of Wagoner's audience was unhappy that Norma Jean, the performer whom Parton had replaced, had left the show, and was reluctant to accept Parton (sometimes chanting loudly for Norma Jean from the audience).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-21" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[21]  With Wagoner's assistance, however, Parton was eventually accepted. Wagoner also convinced his label, RCA Victor, to sign Parton. RCA decided to protect their investment by releasing her first single as a duet with Wagoner. That song, a cover of Tom Paxton's "The Last Thing on My Mind", released in late 1967, reached the country top ten in January 1968, launching a six-year streak of virtually uninterrupted top-ten singles for the pair.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Parton's first solo single for RCA, "Just Because I'm a Woman", was released in the summer of 1968 and was a moderate chart hit, reaching number seventeen. For the remainder of the decade, none of her solo efforts – even "In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)", which later became a standard – were as successful as her duets with Wagoner. The duo was named Vocal Group of the Year in 1968 by the Country Music Association, but Parton's solo records were continually ignored. Wagoner had a significant financial stake in her future: as of 1969, he was her co-producer and owned nearly half of Owepar, the publishing company Parton had founded with Bill Owens.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">By 1970, both Parton and Wagoner had grown frustrated by her lack of solo chart success, and Porter had her record Jimmie Rodgers' "Mule Skinner Blues", a gimmick that worked. The record shot to number three on the charts, followed closely, in February 1971, by her first number-one single, "Joshua." For the next two years, she had a number of solo hits – including her signature song "Coat of Many Colors" (number four in 1971) – in addition to her duets. Top-twenty singles during this period included "The Right Combination", "Burning the Midnight Oil" (both duets with Porter Wagoner, 1971), "Lost Forever in Your Kiss" (with Wagoner), "Touch Your Woman (1972), "If Teardrops Were Pennies" (with Wagoner), "My Tennessee Mountain Home" and "Travelin' Man" (1973). Though her solo singles and the Wagoner duets were successful, her biggest hit of this period would be "Jolene". Released in late 1973, the song topped the singles chart in February 1974, and reached the lower regions of Billboard's Hot 100 (it eventually also charted in the UK, reaching No. 7 in 1976, representing Parton's first UK success).

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Parton and Wagoner performed their last duet concert in April 1974, and she ceased appearing on his TV show in mid-1974, though they remained affiliated, with him helping to produce her records through 1975.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-allMusicGuide_20-1" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[20]  The pair continued to release duet albums, their final release being 1975's Say Forever You'll Be Mine.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In 1974, her song, "I Will Always Love You", written about her professional break from Wagoner, went to number one on the country music charts. Around the same time, Elvis Presley indicated that he wanted to cover the song. Parton was interested until Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, told her that it was standard procedure for the songwriter to sign over half of the publishing rights to any song Elvis recorded.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-22" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[22]  Parton refused, and that decision is credited with helping to make her many millions of dollars in royalties from the song over the years.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Parton had three number-one singles in 1974 ("Jolene", "I Will Always Love You" and "Love Is Like a Butterfly"), and a further chart-topper in 1975 with "The Bargain Store". ===1976–86: Branching out into pop music<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;direction:ltr;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left:-0.25em;margin-right:0.25em;color:rgb(85,85,85);"> === <p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">From 1974 to 1980, she consistently charted in the country Top 10, with eight singles reaching number one. Parton had her own syndicated-television variety show, ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly! Dolly!]'' (1976–1977). During this period, many performers, includingRose Maddox, Kitty Wells, Olivia Newton-John, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt, covered her songs, and her siblings Randy and Stella both received recording contracts of their own.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-allMusicGuide_20-2" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[20]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">It was also during this period that Parton began to embark on a high-profile crossover campaign, attempting to aim her music in a more mainstream direction and increase her visibility outside of the confines of country music. In 1976, she signed with the Los Angeles public-relations firm Katz-Gallin-Morey, working closely with Sandy Gallin, who served as her personal manager for the next twenty-five years.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">With her 1976 album All I Can Do, co-produced by herself with Porter Wagoner, Parton began taking more of an active role in production, and began specifically aiming her music in a more mainstream, pop direction. Her first entirely self-produced effort, 1977's New Harvest ... First Gathering, highlighted Parton's pop sensibilities, both in terms of choice of songs - the album contained covers of the pop and R&B classics "My Girl" and "Higher and Higher" – and the album's production. While receiving generally favorable reviews, however, the album did not achieve the crossover success Parton had hoped for. Though it topped the country albums charts, it stalled at No. 71 on the pop albums chart; the album's single, "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" only reached No. 87 on the Hot 100.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">After New Harvest's disappointing chart performance, Parton turned to high profile pop producer Gary Klein for her next album. The result, 1977's Here You Come Again, became her first million-seller, topping the country albums chart and reaching No. 20 on the pop albums chart; the Barry Mann-Cynthia Weil-penned title track topped the country singles chart, and became Parton's first top-ten single on the pop charts (reaching number three). A second single, the double A-sided single "Two Doors Down"/"It's All Wrong, But It's All Right" also topped the country singles chart and crossed over to the pop top twenty. For the remainder of the 1970s and into the early 1980s, many of Parton's subsequent singles charted on both pop and country charts, simultaneously. Her albums during this period were developed specifically for pop-crossover success.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In 1978, Parton won a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for her Here You Come Again album. She continued to have hits with "Heartbreaker" (1978), "Baby I'm Burning" and "You're the Only One" (both 1979), all of which charted in the pop singles Top 40, and all of which also topped the country-singles chart; 1979's "Sweet Summer Lovin'" became the first Parton single in two years to not top the country singles chart (though it still nonetheless reached the top ten). During this period, Parton's visibility continued to increase, with television appearances in 1977, 1978 and 1979. A highly publicized candid interview on a Barbara Walters Special in December 1977 (timed to coincide with Here You Come Again's release) was followed by appearances in 1978 on Cher's ABC television special, and her own joint special with Carol Burnett on CBS, Carol and Dolly in Nashville. She also served as one of three co-hosts (along with Roy Clark and Glen Campbell) on the CBS special Fifty Years of Country Music. In 1979, Parton hosted the NBC special The Seventies: An Explosion of Country Music, performed live at the Ford Theatre in Washington, D.C., and whose audience included President Jimmy Carter.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Parton's commercial success continued to grow during 1980, with three number-one hits in a row: the Donna Summer-written "Starting Over Again", "Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You", and "9 to 5", which topped the country and pop charts in early 1981.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-allMusicGuide_20-3" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[20]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">With less time to spend songwriting as she focused on a burgeoning film career, during the early 1980s Parton recorded a larger percentage of material from noted pop songwriters, such as Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Rupert Holmes,Gary Portnoy and Carole Bayer Sager.

Dolly Parton in Honolulu, Hawaii, 1983.<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">"9 to 5", the theme song to the feature film 9 to 5 (1980) Parton starred in along with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, not only reached number one on the country charts, but also, in February 1981, reached number one on the pop and the adult-contemporary charts, giving her a triple-number-one hit. Parton became one of the few female country singers to have a number-one single on the country and pop charts simultaneously. It also received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Parton's singles continued to appear consistently in the country Top 10: between 1981 and 1985, she had 12 Top 10 hits; half of those were number-one singles. Parton continued to make inroads on the pop charts as well with a re-recorded version of "I Will Always Love You" from the feature film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) scraping the Top 50 that year and her duet with Kenny Rogers, "Islands in the Stream" (written by the Bee Gees and produced by Barry Gibb), spent two weeks at number one in 1983.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-allMusicGuide_20-4" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[20]  Other chart hits during this period included Parton's chart-topping cover of the 1969 First Edition hit "But You Know I Love You" and "The House of the Rising Sun" (both 1981), "Single Women", "Heartbreak Express" and "Hard Candy Christmas" (1982) and 1983's "Potential New Boyfriend", which was accompanied by one of Parton's first music videos, and which also reached the U.S. dance charts.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">She also continued to explore new business and entertainment ventures such as her Dollywood theme park, that opened in 1986 in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">By the mid-1980s, her record sales were still relatively strong, with "Save the Last Dance for Me", "Downtown", "Tennessee Homesick Blues" (all 1984); "Real Love" (another duet with Kenny Rogers), "Don't Call It Love" (both 1985); and "Think About Love" (1986) all reaching the country-singles Top 10. ("Tennessee Homesick Blues" and "Think About Love" reached number one. "Real Love" also reached number one on the country-singles chart and also became a modest pop-crossover hit). However, RCA Records did not renew her contract after it expired that year, and she signed with Columbia Records in 1987.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-allMusicGuide_20-5" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[20] ===1987–94: Return to country roots<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;direction:ltr;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left:-0.25em;margin-right:0.25em;color:rgb(85,85,85);"> === <p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Along with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt, she released the decade-in-the-making Trio (1987) to critical acclaim. The album strongly revitalized Parton's somewhat stagnant music career, spending five weeks at number one on Billboard's Country Albums chart, selling several million copies and producing four Top 10 country hits including Phil Spector's "To Know Him Is to Love Him", which went to number one. Trio won the Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. In 1987, she revived her television variety show, Dolly.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">After a further attempt at pop success with 1987's Rainbow (including the single "The River Unbroken", Parton refocused on recording country material. White Limozeen (1989) produced two number-one hits in "Why'd You Come in Here Lookin' Like That" and "Yellow Roses". Although it looked like Parton's career had been revived, it was actually just a brief revival before contemporary country music came in the early 1990s and moved all veteran artists out of the charts.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-allMusicGuide_20-6" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[20]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">A duet with Ricky Van Shelton, "Rockin' Years" (1991) reached number one but Parton's greatest commercial fortune of the decade came when Whitney Houston recorded "I Will Always Love You" for the soundtrack of the feature filmThe Bodyguard (1992); both the single and the album were massively successful.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Parton's soundtrack album from her own 1992 film, Straight Talk, however was less successful, though her 1993 album Slow Dancing with the Moon won critical acclaim, and did well on the charts, reaching No. 4 on the country albums charts, and No. 16 on the Billboard 200 albums charts.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">She recorded "The Day I Fall in Love" as a duet with James Ingram for the feature film Beethoven's 2nd (1993). The songwriters (Sager, Ingram, and Clif Mangess) were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song and Parton and Ingram performed the song on the awards telecast.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Similar to her earlier collabrative album with Harris and Ronstadt, Parton released Honky Tonk Angels in the fall of 1993 with Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-bio_23-0" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[23]  It was certified as Gold Album by the Recording Industry Association of America and helped revive both Wynette's and Lynn's careers.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Also in 1994, Parton contributed the song "You Gotta Be My Baby" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">A live acoustic album, Heartsongs, featuring stripped down versions of some of Parton's hits, as well as a number of traditional songs, was released in late 1994. ===1995–present<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;direction:ltr;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left:-0.25em;margin-right:0.25em;color:rgb(85,85,85);"> === Dolly Parton in Liseberg Applause Award (2010).<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Parton's recorded output during the mid- to late-1990s remained steady, though somewhat eclectic.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Her 1995 re-recording of "I Will Always Love You" (performed as a duet with Vince Gill), from her album Something Special won the Country Music Association's Vocal Event of the Year Award for Parton and Gill.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The following year, Treasures, an album of covers of 1960s and '70s hits was released, and featured a diverse collection of material, including songs by Mac Davis, Pete Seeger, Kris Kristofferson,Cat Stevens, Neil Young, and Joni Mitchell. (A number of the acts who wrote or initially popularized the songs appeared on the album). Parton's recording of Stevens' "Peace Train" was later remixed and released as a dance single, reaching Billboard's dance singles chart.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Her 1998 country-rock album Hungry Again was made up entirely of her own compositions. Though neither of the album's two singles, "(Why Don't More Women Sing) Honky Tonk Songs" and "Salt in my Tears", charted, videos for both songs received significant airplay on CMT.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">A second and more contemporary collaboration with Harris and Ronstadt, Trio II (1999), was released and its cover of Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush" won a Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. Parton was also inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-bio_23-1" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[23]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">She recorded a series of bluegrass-inspired albums, beginning with The Grass Is Blue (1999), winning a Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album, and Little Sparrow (2001), with its cover ofCollective Soul's "Shine" winning a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. The third, Halos & Horns (2002) included a bluegrass version of the Led Zeppelin classic "Stairway to Heaven".

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Parton released Those Were The Days (2005), her interpretation of hits from the folk-rock era of the late 1960s through the early 1970s. It featured such classics as John Lennon's "Imagine", Cat Stevens's "Where Do the Children Play?", Tommy James's "Crimson and Clover", and Pete Seeger's anti-war song "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?".

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Parton earned her second Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for "Travelin' Thru," which she wrote specifically for the feature film Transamerica (2005). Because of the song's theme of uncritical acceptance of a transgender woman, Parton received death threats.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-24" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[24]  She also returned to number one on the country charts later in 2005 by lending her distinctive harmonies to theBrad Paisley ballad, "When I Get Where I'm Goin'".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-bio_23-2" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[23]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In September 2007, Parton released her first single from her own record company, Dolly Records, titled, "Better Get to Livin'," which eventually peaked at number forty-eight on the Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart. It was followed by the studio album, "Backwoods Barbie," which was released February 26, 2008, and reached number two on the country charts. The album's debut at number seventeen on the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart has been the highest in her career.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-25" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[25]  Backwoods Barbie produced four additional singles, including the title track, which was written as part of her score for 9 to 5: The Musical, an adaptation of her feature film Nine to Five.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">After the sudden death of Michael Jackson, whom Parton knew personally, she released a video in which she somberly told of her feelings on Jackson and his death.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-26" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[26] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-27" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[27]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">On October 27, 2009, Parton released a four-CD box set titled Dolly that featured 99 songs and spanned most of her career.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-28" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[28]  She released her second live DVD and album, Live From London in October 2009, which was filmed during her sold out 2008 concerts at London's O2 Arena.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-29" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[29]  During 2010, she was said to have been working on a dance-oriented album, Dance with Dolly, though, as of 2013, the album was not released.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="line-height:1em;white-space:nowrap;">[dated info] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-30" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[30]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Longtime friend Billy Ray Cyrus, singer of Brother Clyde, released their self-titled debut album on August 10, 2010. Parton is featured on "The Right Time," which she co-wrote with Cyrus and Morris Joseph Tancredi.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">She said in 2010 that she would like to start recording a country-dance album in November, and that it should be set for release in 2011. On January 6, 2011, Parton announced her new album would be titled, Better Day. In February 2011, she announced that she would embark on the Better Day World Tour on July 17, 2011, with shows in northern Europe and the U.S.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-31" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[31]  The album's lead-off single, "Together You and I," was released on May 23, 2011, and Better Day was released on June 28, 2011.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-32" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[32]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In 2011, Parton voiced the character Dolly Gnome in the animated film Gnomeo and Juliet.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">On February 11, 2012, after the sudden death of Whitney Houston, Dolly Parton stated, "Mine is only one of the millions of hearts broken over the death of Whitney Houston. I will always be grateful and in awe of the wonderful performance she did on my song, and I can truly say from the bottom of my heart, "Whitney, I will always love you. You will be missed."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-33" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[33]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In 2013, Parton joined Lulu Roman (of Hee Haw fame) for a recording of "I Will Always Love You" for Roman's album At Last.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-34" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[34]

In concert and on tour
<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">Parton <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  toured<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">extensively from the late 1960s until the early 1990s. In the 1960s and early 1970s, Parton toured as a member of <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  Porter Wagoner<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">'s road show, as well as with a number of other country musicians, including <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  George Jones<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">and <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  Linda Ronstadt<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">. Upon leaving Wagoner's organization in 1974, Parton formed her own "Travelin' Family Band", made up largely of siblings, cousins and other family members, and touring with a number of other acts, including <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  Willie Nelson<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">and <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  Mac Davis<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">. In 1976, she disbanded the Travlin' Family Band, in order to form a new band, Gypsy Fever, composed of seasoned musicians who had more of a rock sensibility, in order to support her impending crossover. (One original member of Gypsy Fever, backing vocalist Richard Dennison, has remained with Parton's organization through the early 2010s, serving as a supporting vocalist, as well as the vocal arranger for Parton's band.) With Gypsy Fever, Parton toured as a headline act in 1977, 1978 and 1979, to promote her albums, <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  New Harvest - First Gathering<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">, <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  Here You Come Again<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">, <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  Heartbreaker<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">, and <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  Great Balls of Fire<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">. In the 1980s, movie roles and other ventures caused Parton to tour less than she had done during the previous decade. In 1982 and into early 1983, she toured to support her <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  Heartbreak Express<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">album, but health problems resulted in the cancellation of a number of that tour's dates. (Parton's March 1983 performance at London's <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  Dominion Theatre<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">from this tour was filmed and broadcast as a television special in the U.S.) From 1984 to 1985, she toured alongside <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  Kenny Rogers<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">for the <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  Real Love Tour<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">. She continued touring in 1986 with the <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  Think About Love Tour<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">, and 1989 for the <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  White Limozeen Tour.<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">Plans for a brief tour with <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  Emmylou Harris<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">and <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  Linda Ronstadt<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">to promote their 1987 collaboration <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  Trio<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">fell through, due to the three artists' conflicting schedules, as well as Parton's prior commitment to her 1987-88 ABC TV series. Parton's only tour in the 1990s was in support of her <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  Eagle When She Files<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">album in 1991 and into1992. In 2002 she returned to the concert stage; she later went on the <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  Backwoods Barbie Tour<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">in 2008 promoting <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  Backwoods Barbie<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">.