Memorable Mondays: Dolly Parton
By Dani Craftworks
(Image from WallPaperCave)
Yes. Yes. I know I am late with this one, but I wanted to talk about the woman who was a part of my memorable moment in my life, in two ways. The first was her writing the icon song, “I Will Always Love You”, sung by Whitney Houston (another icon that I will be writing about for my memorable Mondays, at some point). The second one was a movie I watched from her back when I was in middle school or high school either on WE TV or Lifetime (I slowly thinking I saw it on WE TV) called Steel Magnolias. When I saw her on that movie, what I got from watching her play her character, Truvy Jones, was that she was kind-hearted, southern woman. More than that, it felt like that character bled into reality that this is who she is in real life, or in the public eye (again I never met her, but I feel like people who know her might say their piece about her if they want to). When I saw her make guess appearances on certain animated series to her being on Disney Channel to play as the godmother of someone who we all know really well back before their “antics” that they pulled to make sure we don’t remember them back in their Disney days (even though, most of will remembered them for that). Along with seeing shorts of her old interviews and recent interviews, I just wanted to take this moment to talk about her for this memorable Monday. So yeah, let’s talk about the charismatic, bleached blonde, big bosom, southern sweetheart, Dolly Parton!
A “Long” History of Dolly Parton
(Image from WallPaperCave)
Dolly Rebecca Parton was born on January 19, 1946, in Sevier County, Tennessee (Gorlinski, 2026). She was an American country music singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress who pioneered the interface between country and pop music style (Gorlinski, 2026). She became one of the most iconic entertainment figures of the late 20th century (Gorlinski, 2026). She was also a very savvy businesswoman (Gorlinski, 2026).
She was born and raised in the Appalachia, in the Great Smoky Mountain of eastern Tennessee, into a poor farming family (Gorlinski, 2026). She was the fourth of 12 children born to Robert Lee Parton, a sharecropper and construction worker, and Avie Lee Parton, a homemaker (Gorlinski, 2026). She displayed her aptitude and passion for music at an early age, learning church songs and traditional folk ballads from her mother (Gorlinski, 2026). As a child, Parton was a featured singer and guitarist on local radio and television shows on Knoxville (Gorlinski, 2026). After graduating from high school in 1964, she immediately traveled to Nashville, to make it big as a country artist (Gorlinski, 2026).
In Nashville, she became the protégée of country music singer and Grand Ole Opry star, Porter Wagoner. Parton gained coast-to-coast recognition, through her repeated appearance on Wagoner’s syndicated television series (Gorlinski, 2026). She later gained the attention of the music industry moguls at RCA Records and recorded more than a dozen hit songs, with Wagoner, on the label (Gorlinski, 2026). Giving praised Wagoner for her success, she rapidly emerges as one of the most popular singers in country music (Gorlinski, 2026).
She had several released solo albums and several singles that displayed her undeniable talents in songwriting. Many of Parton’s early songs told poignant stories of love and life from a woman’s perspective (Gorlinski, 2026).
In 1970, she scored her first number-one hit on the Billboard country chart with the bouncy hit song, “Joshua” (Gorlinski, 2026). Next year, the release of “Coat of Many Colors”, featuring an intimate lyrics that blend the biblical story of the many-colored coat given to the biblical figure, Joseph, with Parton’s memories of childhood poverty and her mother’s love (Gorlinski, 2026).
In 1973, she made another country chart-topper song that most people love to sing, whether if you’re a country music lover or not, “Jolene”, where Parton is pleading with a supposed “homewrecker” to “…don’t take my man.” (Gorlinski, 2026).
(Gif from Tenor)
Dolly Parton’s Iconic Look
Her iconic big, blonde hair, striking makeup, and rhinestone-covered outfit was inspired by a woman she saw growing up in her hometown of Sevierville, Tennessee, whom she was referred to as the “town tramp” (Anderson, 2026). What Parton told to CBS News was, “I thought she was beautiful.” (Anderson, 2026). Parton didn’t see the woman as something superficial; she viewed it as a part of her identity and a way for her to express herself (Anderson, 2026). She frequently joked about her look, famously saying that to takes a lot money to look this cheap (Anderson, 2026). Like a joke she made in Playboy 1978, “Can you image anybody wanting to look this way for real?” (If she only knew about the “Babbie Aesthetic”). She also acknowledged her look was a key of her brand. Her reason, “You’ve got to have a gimmick. You’ve got to have something that will catch the eye and hold the attention of the public.” (See. Even back then people had short attention span. Leave the young people alone) (Faraci, 2026).
(Gif from Tenor)
Her Solo Career and Crossover Success
Parton originally intended to stay on the Wagoner’s show only for five years, but she had difficulty convincing him to let her go out on her own, even after two years with the program (Gorlinski, 2026). In 1974, Parton finally parted ways with Wagoner (Gorlinski, 2026). She captured the poignancy of their split in her very icon and recognizable song: “I Will Always Love You.” What she told to the Tennessean: She said, “Porter, sit down. I’ve written I think you to hear.”. Parton started singing “I Will Always Love You,”, and he started to cry. When Parton finished, he said, “Well, hell! If you feel that strong about it, just go on – providing I get to produce that record because that’s the best song you ever wrote.” (Gorlinski, 2026).
After that, “I Will Always Love You” went to number one on the country chart that year. It would become one of Parton’s most popular and enduring songs (that I agree) (Gorlinski, 2026). In both 1975 and 1976 she was chosen female singer of the year by the Country Music Association (CMA) on the strength of her iconic hits such as “Jolene” and “Love is Like a Butterfly” (1974) (Gorlinski, 2026). At the same time, her crossover success in the pop music market started to grow, without losing her country music credibility. In 1978, she won a Grammy for her song “Here You Come Again” and was named entertainer of the year by the CMA (Gorlinski, 2026).
(Image from WallPaperCave)
She received more Grammys as her career developed, including “9 to 5” (1980), her first song to top the Billboard pop chart, and “Shrine” (2001); and for her albums, including Trio (1987) and The Grass Is Blue (1999) (Gorlinski, 2026). Parton’s crossover success was solidified in 1983 when she topped both pop and country charts again with “Islands in the Stream,” a duet with fellow country legend Kenny Rogers (Gorlinski, 2026). She was garnered two Academy Awards nominations for best original song for “9 to 5” in 1981 and “Travelin’ Thru” in 2006 (for the soundtrack in Transamerica) (Gorlinski, 2026).
Her Acting and Producing Career
In the 1980’s, Parton appeared in several successful films. Most notably the comedy film, 9 to 5 (1980), which starred Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. 9 to 5 was about three women who plot revenge on their male chauvinist boss (Dabney Coleman). Parton’s role in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), where she revived her hit song “I Will Always Love You”, in 1974. In 1992, Whitney Houston (who I need to do a Memorable Monday on), recorded the song for the film The Bodyguard, and it went on to sell millions of copies (Gorlinski, 2026). In 1989, Parton played a principal role in the comedy – drama Steel Magnolias (Gorlinski, 2026). She had a short-lived TV show called Dolly from 1976-77 (Gorlinski, 2026). And again in 1987-88. And again, in the 1990s and 2000s (Gorlinski, 2026).
A Little Bit More About Dolly
In 1964 (that’s the year my parents were born), Parton met her husband Carl Dean outside of a laundromat in Nashville (Gorlinski, 2026). He owned an asphalt-paving business (Gorlinski, 2026). They married two years later (Gorlinski, 2026). They were together until her passed away in 2025, at 82 (Gorlinski, 2026). But, she got to reunite with her husband, because she would pass away at age 80 from her “brief battle with cancer” (Waston, 2026).
Why was she so Memorable?
(Gif from Tenor)
She is memorable to not just me, but to many people. For the people who love country music, for the people who love to dress in over-the-top styles, for people who have some sense of humor, and for people who grew-up watching her. It just feels like a piece of a puzzle that you lost and the whole portrait just isn’t complete, because you’re so used to it being in the spot until it’s lost and never found. Well in Mrs. Parton’s case, that piece will never come back. I find her memorable, because she reminded me of the women that I encounter that had big 80’s or Texas hair, wearing bright colorful clothes, rhinestone (well not as much as how she wore it), the loud makeup with the loud clothes, and whenever I see them the smell, I think of it Jasime and geranium (I can remember the smell chocking me out as a child. Fond memories).
I remember the song “I Will Always Love You”, but I remembered hearing the song from Whitney Houston. I have always thought that it was her song, until I got older and found out that Dolly Parton wrote and sang the song, but allowed Whitney Houston to record and sing the song. Someone thought she was upset until she showed this person how much money she made from Ms. Houton singing that song (No lie. I wouldn’t be mad either).
Ans with Steele Magnolias, I remember watching it on WE TV, and I was one of my early introductions into womanhood, where I could somewhat understand what was going on a little better, but still struggle to understand the whole premises about what the women go through. I got a little upset with the movie, because I show how one character who wasn’t so talkative and certain characters in the movie treated her like they didn’t have to be respectful to her, in the earlier part of the movie, and I turned off because that was kind of my experience I was going through when I was in middle school. Whenever I tried to watch it, my emotion just made shut down and change the channel. At my big old age now, I think I can watch it again, and hopefully not the change the channel again.
After hearing all the activism and philanthropy she has done. For someone who said she isn’t political, her actions come off she kind of made a joke that went over all our head. But in all seriousness, I guess she was just showing us that just being a good person, caring about humanity, and just feeling comfortable about being your authentic self will go a long way and help us live a very long life. We can all see that worked for her, right?
In all seriousness (again), Dolly Parton, thank you for being yourself, and opening about your fertility issues, because someone as famous as her, was a breath of fresh air to see and to learn how to handle that type of acceptance of not being able to have children more bearable. Thank you for being here for as long as you could. You will be missed, Rest In Peace, Mrs. Dolly Parton.
(Image from WallPaperCave)
Dolly Parton’s Film and TV List
Works Cited
Anderson, L. (2026, August 28). Dolly Parton Once Explained the Real Meaning Behind Her Famous Image. Retrieved from Yahoo: https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/celebrity/articles/dolly-parton-once-explained-real-182021124.html
Faraci, D. (2026, July 18). Dolly Parton’s Signature Look Was Inspired By A Surprising Woman. Retrieved from The List: https://www.thelist.com/2214756/dolly-parton-inspiration-behind-signature-look/
Gorlinski, V. (2026, September 4). Dolly Parton: American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress; Also known as Dolly Rebecca Parton. Retrieved from Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dolly-Parton
Waston, C. (2026, August 25). Country music legend Dolly Parton dies at 80 after ‘brief battle with cancer’. Retrieved from ABC NEWS: https://abcnews.com/GMA/Culture/dolly-parton-country-music-legend-cultural-icon-dead/story?id=95381474
