Dolly Parton
Thanks for joining us!
This episode was written by Kara and voiced by Kara and T.
Episode art was drawn by Jean.
It was originally released in May 2025.
— Check out these picture books about Dolly Parton —
Click on each photo for a link to the book on our Bookshop.org account
— The magnificent Dolly singing —
— Dolly Parton’s America
An in-depth, entertaining, deep dive
into Dolly Parton’s life and impact —
— Celebrate & find some new music with this playlist —
— Learn from about Dolly directly from her —
— Dolly Parton Episode Summary —
Dolly Rebecca Parton is a singer and a musician and a songwriter! —
Dolly Parton has been singing nearly all of her life. She turned 79 years old in 2025 (which is around the age of many grandmas), and she started singing when she was near your age, friends, when she was a young girl!
Singing is so fun. If you enjoy singing, that is great. That can be enough. It is enough for most of us. And for some people, they love it so much, and they’re so good at it, that they try to make it their job!
For people who sing as their work, they have to do a bit more. They have to sing the right notes. Know when to go low and high. They have to know all of the words in a song without looking at anything.
And then they also have to think about how they want to be as a performer! A person who sings in front of a crowd, maybe 10, maybe 10,000 people! Some people are made for that, they love being in front of people, and some are not, that sounds horrible to them! For Dolly Parton, I think she was made for it.
When singers are performing, sometimes they’ll just sing into a microphone. But sometimes they’ll also play an instrument while they’re singing! Then they’re a musician, too!
While performing in concert, Dolly Parton has played a guitar, fiddle, violin, autoharp, piano, dulcimer, and a banjo.
Ok, and she has also played the harmonica and saxophone on stage — I guess she took a break from singing to play those!
Songwriting & storytelling —
Not all musicians sing. Not all singers play an instrument. And not all singers or musicians write their own songs. And that’s ok! They’re all very different skills – just because you’re good at one doesn’t mean you’re good at the others. Which is why it is so incredible when people can do all of those things, like Dolly Parton!
With songwriting, you get to create something, a song, that is all new. The world has never heard it before. You think of the words and the music and how to fit them together. I think it’s kind of magical.
Many songs have a little story in them. In fact, Dolly wrote a book called “Songteller” and said that she named it that because she writes songs and tells stories in her songs.
And the thing about songs, is, It’s not the most interesting song if you’re just like: “I’m happy, I’m happy all the time!” Ok, there are some good ones- What a Wonderful world, Don’t Worry, Be Happy, Everything is Awesome.
But a lot of the time, people write songs about things that have been tough for them. Or ways they’re proud of themselves. Dolly has definitely done that. Sometimes she writes about things that have happened to her. Or to people she knows. Or situations that she imagines. And when other people hear those songs, they can relate to parts of them, which is one of the things that makes music so special.
Being a songwriter, who can create songs, and a singer and a musician playing an instrument is special. There have been some greats over time! Taylor Swift is the one of the best today, writing new songs all the time. And Dolly Parton was one of the first and one of the best at doing this.
The influence of Dolly’s big family —
So, Dolly Parton is a tremendous talent. But she didn’t start off her life as a star. She wasn’t famous from the beginning. Dolly Parton is a person, just like all of us. She had parents and she had siblings. In fact, she had 11 siblings! She was the fourth. She and her family lived in a state in the United States called Tennessee, in an area near The Great Smoky Mountains.
And when she was young, she and her siblings and parents all lived together in a one room home, without electricity or running water. They did not have a phone, a car, or a TV. Her family did not have a lot of money. There certainly wasn’t enough for many new things, including toys. Their clothes and toys were homemade.
One time, Dolly’s mama made her a doll out of a corncob, which Dolly named ‘Tiny Tasseltop’. And she wrote her very first song when she was 5 about that doll - the song was named ‘Little Tiny Tasseltop’! Dolly has said that she “started writing songs before I could even write”.
When Dolly was older, she wrote a song about something that happened to her when she was young. Her mama made her a coat out of rags that their family had been given. Dolly was proud of it, and proud of the love that her mom showed for her in making it. But other kids made fun of her for how it looked, which made her really sad. And hearing that story breaks my heart every time. We do not make fun of other people.
Eventually she turned that sadness into inspiration and into a song. The song is called ‘Coat of Many Colors’.
Even though they didn’t have a lot of money, Dolly’s family had a lot of love, and her mama made it clear that they were not poor people. She said that “they didn’t have as much material stuff as other people do, but wealth is not measured by the dollar.”
Her family also had a lot to do with her becoming a singer and a success. Dolly had always loved to sing and would sing at home. And her mama was a big influence on her musically, she would sing songs around the house, old ballads and gospel hymns.
Dolly’s dad couldn’t read or write, but she has said that he was the one of the smartest people in business that she knew. And he was a hard worker, as a farmer and in construction.
Her family - siblings, parents, uncles, aunts, cousins - would sit on the front porch and play music together. She saw relatives playing instruments and wanted to learn how herself!
She started singing church when she was 6 years old.
When she was 7, Dolly made her own homemade guitar out of old strings and mandolin that had been thrown away. And after seeing how determined Dolly was to learn to play, her uncle when she was 8 years old.
Her Aunt Dorothy Jo was a great singer and songwriter, and they wrote songs together when she was young.
And after seeing how talented and determined she was, Dolly’s Uncle Bill started to help her with her music and with getting into the music business.
Dolly starts to go after her dreams —
Dolly Parton wasn’t just a good singer and a hard worker to learn an instrument. She was a dreamer! She was determined to be a star – to be famous, to write her own songs, and to sing in front of many people. And no one else was going to make that happen, except Dolly herself. With Uncle Bill’s help.
Dolly and Uncle Bill asked a local radio station for a chance and they gave her one! Dolly sang live on the radio, and the listeners loved her so much that she got a regular spot when she was 10 years old! She did it alongside school.
Dolly really wanted to sing on the Grand Ole Opry, a well known country music radio show. People told her she was too young, but she believed in herself, and kept asking other musicians to give up their spots. She got a lot of no’s, but one day, she got a yes! She was just 13 years old and she lived one of her dreams! Dolly was introduced by Johnny Cash, a country music legend and played so her family could hear her on the radio they had back home.
The day after Dolly graduated from high school, she got on the bus and moved to Nashville! Nashville is a city in Tennessee known to be a place where musicians can work and be discovered.
And believe it or not, the day after she got to Nashville, she met the man who would become her husband in a laundromat! They were married for over 50 years.
Even though Dolly knew she could find a way to work in music, she struggled for a few years. Then, Dolly got a big break, which is a good thing! It’s when something happens to you that changes your life in a way you want, that you’re excited about.
Dolly’s big break was to be asked to be on a TV show called the Porter Wagoner Show. A lot of people watched this TV show, where they talked and played music. People got to know her through the show, and they came to love her. She put out songs with Porter. She released her first album, which is a group of songs that she wrote and sang. The album was called “Hello, I’m Dolly”. It was happening, she was starting to live her dream!
She stood up for herself and her rights —
Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner had a musical partnership for many years. But eventually, Dolly felt like it was time for her to do something new, and so she decided to leave the show to make and make music on her own.
She wrote one of her most famous songs, “I Will Always Love You” about Porter. It’s a beautiful song and also bittersweet, because it’s about saying goodbye and always loving someone. Which I think is actually really cool because we often think of stories about love as being about romantic love or family love, but this one is about a love for a friend and someone you create things with. There is all kinds of love out there to write about!
The song “I Will Always Love You” is a big deal for Dolly- she recorded it and it went to #1, which means it was the most popular country song at the time.
Some years later, a super famous song named Elvis Presley wanted to sing her song. Which was a big deal! That kind of thing is ok, sometimes singers sing each other's' songs, but you have to ask permission from the person who wrote it. Elvis loved the song, and they made a plan for him to record it. Dolly was so excited! But the day before, the man who handled Elvis’s business said, hey, if Elvis records this, we have to at least own half the song. Usually Elvis owns all of the songs he records.
Did you know that people own songs? If you create something, you make it, you own something called the “rights” to it. This is a big deal because this is how you make money from the thing you make! Well if Elvis owned the rights, he would make money from the song that Dolly wrote, even if he wasn’t the one singing it? Is that right? Noooooo. No way. So Dolly said no! Strong lady. It’s hard to say no to powerful people, she did.
And that would be an amazing story on its own. But what makes it even a little bit better is that almost 20 years later, a singer named Whitney Houston recorded “I Will Always Love You”. And Whitney made it her own- it’s incredible song, you have to listen to it, friends. It was a really popular hit again with Whiteny’s version, and because Dolly had written it and kept the rights, she also made money on it alongside Whitney. Alright ladies!
Dolly is a star and has always stayed true to herself —
That’s been one of the most amazing things about Dolly’s long career – she has stood up for herself and her music. She believes in herself. And she does what she thinks is right for her.
Sometimes that meant changing her music - after many years in the country music world, she started to make different music. She also acted in and wrote songs for movies! Which is where that favorite song of ours ‘9 to 5’ comes from.
Sometimes doing what was right for her was about how she looked – Dolly Parton has a unique look. She has white skin, she wears a lot of makeup, sometimes really colorful lipstick and eyeshadow. She has blond hair that stands out and for a while was styled really high and poofy! Dolly loves rhinestones and glitter on her clothing - she sometimes even has a glittery guitar!
Not everyone loves her style, but who cares? She loves it. And she inspires others to be themselves! She once said: “Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”
Dolly also did what was right for her in business, which went beyond music. She owns theaters and owns a record label and created Dollywood, her own theme park. It’s in Tennessee, near the area where she grew up.
She has written cookbooks and books about her life and books for kids.
Dolly has said that she loved to read when she was young, but didn’t have many books in her home, so she wanted to help other kids have books to read. In honor of her dad, she created the Imagination Library, which sends books to kids for free, from when they’re born until they’re five years old. Which has given more than 275 million books to children. T’s little sister receives a book from the Imagination Library every month and I like to think she’s getting a book sent to her from ‘Aunt Dolly’.
Dolly Parton she has won a LOT of awards and had many popular songs and #1 hits over the years. She has made a lot of money, and given a lot of money away to help other people. She has played in front so many people in so many places, and written over 3,000 songs. She made many of her dreams come true, while being kind and generous to others.
With all that, though, she has said: “My songwriting and The Imagination Library are the two things I’m proudest of in my life. They’re what I hope to be remembered for.”
So many different types of people love Dolly Parton. She writes amazing music, she’s a great singer, but she also seems kind and warm. She’s funny. She tells great stories. She seems like a very special person.