History Music / DollyParton

** 2023 saw the release of ''Rockstar'', an album of classic rock covers. Of note: [[Music{{Queen}} "We Are the Champions/We Will Rock You"]] (yes, she reversed the traditional order), and [[Music/TheBeatles "Let It Be"]], joined by Music/PaulMcCartney and Music/RingoStarr

Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is a CountryMusic singer-songwriter, actor, and businesswoman with over 3,000 songwriting credits to her name. The fourth of 12 children, Parton began singing in her childhood, and recorded a few songs that gained some regional attention in the South. She signed with Monument Records in 1965, where she released a handful of singles. Popular Country star Porter Wagoner was impressed with her, and hired her as the featured female vocalist on his syndicated TV show in 1967. Wagoner also got her a contract with his longtime label Creator/RCARecords, both as a solo artist and as Wagoner's duet partner. A few modest hits came in the next couple of years, followed by the Number One "Joshua" in 1970. She stayed with RCA through the [[TheSeventies 1970s]] and into the [[TheEighties 1980s]], then switched to Creator/ColumbiaRecords and stayed there until 1995. In her career, Parton charted 25 Number One singles, counting two different versions of her SignatureSong "I Will Always Love You". Also included in her total is a duet with Music/BradPaisley, "When I Get Where I'm Going", which in early 2006 made Parton the oldest female artist to chart a Number One country song. Of course, Parton has earned several awards just for her music, including seven Grammy Awards. Her songs "9 to 5" and "Travelin' Thru" were both nominated for Academy Awards.

Parton is known for her campy, big-breasted image, as well as joking about her large amounts of plastic surgery. But underneath it all, she has a really big...[[LastSecondWordSwap heart]]. Her list of philanthropic efforts is longer than she is tall, and includes HIV/AIDS charities, wildlife conservation, large donations to both Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center of Nashville, childhood education, and her literacy campaign "Dolly Parton's Imagination Library," which gives children a book per month absolutely free of charge from birth until their first day of school. After wildfires left many in the Smoky Mountain region homeless, Dolly created the My People Fund, which not only helped to relocate families but provided them a cash stipend every month until they were back on their feet. During the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, she donated one million dollars toward vaccine research, an effort that was later directly credited with accelerating the vaccine's public rollout. Even her theme park, Ride/{{Dollywood}}, is something of a philanthropic effort, bringing a large amount of money and jobs to the chronically poverty-stricken Appalachian region--and this is just the stuff she's let us ''know'' about; allegedly she makes a hobby of reaching out anonymously to assist individuals in hard times. She is also [[CoolOldLady surprisingly progressive]] for a woman of her background, openly joking about the transphobic reaction to gender-identifying bathroom laws and other southerners' general conservatism, sharing her love and appreciation for her large LGBTQ+ fandom, and expressing support for UsefulNotes/BlackLivesMatter.

* CoolOldLady: In her seventies and still actively performing, getting involved in causes and has shown to be very adept at social media.

Dolly would be selected for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. She actually campaigned ''against'' her selection, and initially declined, believing she wasn't rock enough to deserve induction. But she ultimately accepted the selection. This led to her record a rock-oriented album, ''Rockstar'', which is set to be released in November 2023. The double album, featuring notable rock legends like Journey, Heart, Sting, John Fogerty, Peter Frampton, and Joan Jett, will have both covers and original songs. The first original single, "World on Fire", was previewed at the ACM Awards on May 11, 2023.

Dolly would be selected for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. She actually campaigned ''against'' her selection, and initially declined, believing she wasn't rock enough to deserve induction. But she ultimately accepted the selection.

-->It's been a long dark night\\

That's been all wrong

* ExcitedShowTitle: Her 1976 weekly variety show ''Dolly!'', and the albums ''An Evening With...Dolly Live!'' and ''Sha-Kon-O-Hey! Land of Blue Smoke''.

* RereleaseTheSong: She re-released "I Will Always Love You" in 1982, eight years after the original. Both versions went to #1 on the country charts, making it the only country song to top the charts twice for the same artist. She cut it a third time in 1995 with Music/VinceGill and, although it was never officially released as a single, it went to #15. Music/WhitneyHouston's cover is ''still'' the [[CoveredUp more famous version]], and Dolly herself loved it.

** She is, in real life, the godmother of former Creator/DisneyChannel star Music/MileyCyrus, and has appeared numerous times on ''Series/HannahMontana'' as [[TheDanza Aunt Dolly]].

* WorkingClassAnthem: "9 to 5" is basically an ode about thankless dead end jobs:

Parton is known for her campy, big-breasted image, as well as joking about her large amounts of plastic surgery. But underneath it all, she has a really big...[[LastSecondWordSwap heart]]. Her list of philanthropic efforts is longer than she is tall, and includes HIV/AIDS charities, wildlife conservation, large donations to both Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center of Nashville, childhood education, and her literacy campaign "Dolly Parton's Imagination Library," which gives children a book per month absolutely free of charge from birth until their first day of school. After wildfires left many in the Smoky Mountain region homeless, Dolly created the My People Fund, which not only helped to relocate families but provided them a cash stipend every month until they were back on their feet. During the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, she donated one million dollars toward vaccine research, an effort that was later directly credited with accelerating the vaccine's public rollout. Even her theme park, Dollywood, is something of a philanthropic effort, bringing a large amount of money and jobs to the chronically poverty-stricken Appalachian region--and this is just the stuff she's let us ''know'' about; allegedly she makes a hobby of reaching out anonymously to assist individuals in hard times. She is also [[CoolOldLady surprisingly progressive]] for a woman of her background, openly joking about the transphobic reaction to gender-identifying bathroom laws and other southerners' general conservatism, sharing her love and appreciation for her large LGBTQ+ fandom, and expressing support for UsefulNotes/BlackLivesMatter.

Parton is known for her campy, big-breasted image, as well as joking about her large amounts of plastic surgery. But underneath it all, she has a really big...[[LastSecondWordSwap heart]]. Her list of philanthropic efforts is longer than she is tall, and includes HIV/AIDS charities, wildlife conservation, large donations to both Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center of Nashville, childhood education, and her literacy campaign "Dolly Parton's Imagination Library," which gives children a book per month absolutely free of charge from birth until their first day of school. After wildfires left many in the Smoky Mountain region homeless, Dolly created the My People Fund, which not only helped to relocate families but provided them a cash stipend every month until they were back on their feet. During the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, she donated one million dollars toward vaccine research, an effort that was later directly credited with accelerating the vaccine's public rollout. Even her theme park, {{Dollywood}}, is something of a philanthropic effort, bringing a large amount of money and jobs to the chronically poverty-stricken Appalachian region--and this is just the stuff she's let us ''know'' about; allegedly she makes a hobby of reaching out anonymously to assist individuals in hard times. She is also [[CoolOldLady surprisingly progressive]] for a woman of her background, openly joking about the transphobic reaction to gender-identifying bathroom laws and other southerners' general conservatism, sharing her love and appreciation for her large LGBTQ+ fandom, and expressing support for UsefulNotes/BlackLivesMatter.

Parton is known for her campy, big-breasted image, as well as joking about her large amounts of plastic surgery. But underneath it all, she has a really big...[[LastSecondWordSwap heart]]. Her list of philanthropic efforts is longer than she is tall, and includes HIV/AIDS charities, wildlife conservation, large donations to both Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center of Nashville, childhood education, and her literacy campaign "Dolly Parton's Imagination Library," which gives children a book per month absolutely free of charge from birth until their first day of school. After wildfires left many in the Smoky Mountain region homeless, Dolly created the My People Fund, which not only helped to relocate families but provided them a cash stipend every month until they were back on their feet. During the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, she donated one million dollars toward vaccine research, an effort that was later directly credited with accelerating the vaccine's public rollout. Even her theme park, {{Theme Park/Dollywood}}, is something of a philanthropic effort, bringing a large amount of money and jobs to the chronically poverty-stricken Appalachian region--and this is just the stuff she's let us ''know'' about; allegedly she makes a hobby of reaching out anonymously to assist individuals in hard times. She is also [[CoolOldLady surprisingly progressive]] for a woman of her background, openly joking about the transphobic reaction to gender-identifying bathroom laws and other southerners' general conservatism, sharing her love and appreciation for her large LGBTQ+ fandom, and expressing support for UsefulNotes/BlackLivesMatter.

Parton is known for her campy, big-breasted image, as well as joking about her large amounts of plastic surgery. But underneath it all, she has a really big...[[LastSecondWordSwap heart]]. Her list of philanthropic efforts is longer than she is tall, and includes HIV/AIDS charities, wildlife conservation, large donations to both Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center of Nashville, childhood education, and her literacy campaign "Dolly Parton's Imagination Library," which gives children a book per month absolutely free of charge from birth until their first day of school. After wildfires left many in the Smoky Mountain region homeless, Dolly created the My People Fund, which not only helped to relocate families but provided them a cash stipend every month until they were back on their feet. During the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, she donated one million dollars toward vaccine research, an effort that was later directly credited with accelerating the vaccine's public rollout. Even her theme park, Dollywood, is something of a philanthropic effort, bringing a large amount of money and jobs to the chronically poverty-stricken Appalachian region--and this is just the stuff she's let us ''know'' about; allegedly she makes a hobby of reaching out anonymously to assist individuals in hard times. She is also [[CoolOldLady surprisingly progressive]] for a woman of her background, openly joking about the transphobic reaction to gender-identifying bathroom laws and other southerners' general conservatism, sharing her love and appreciation for her large LGBTQ+ fandom, and expressing support for UsefulNotes/BlackLivesMatter.

** Music/KirstyMaccoll's "Caroline" is an answer song in which Jolene mourns the loss of her friendship with Caroline after an ill-advised affair with Caroline's husband.
** [[Music/{{Sugarland}} Jennifer Nettles]] wrote "That Girl," which she calls "a spiritual successor to 'Jolene'". In it, Jolene has no interest in Parton's man and in fact warns Parton's character that her husband is untrue.
** In Cam's "Diane," Jolene had no idea that she was having an affair with a married man and feels likewise betrayed, offering an apology to Parton's character (the titular Diane).
** A similar song, titled "Jolene's Song," by David Rotheray and Julie Murphy portrays a heartbroken Jolene who learns that the man she loves is married and that she has become "the other woman."
** "You Can Have Him Jolene" by Chapel Hart has the "other woman" asking Jolene to take her man back now that she's found someone better.
** In the rare male example, indie band Ewert and the Two Dragons released a song also called "Jolene" in which the husband orders Jolene to leave him alone as he has no interest in anyone but his wife.

* SelfDepreciation: Dolly has shown many times that she is more than happy to make jokes at her own expense, such as quipping "I was the first woman to burn my bra - it took the fire department four days to put it out" or her famous quote that "it costs a lot of money to look this cheap".

-->-- '''"9 to 5"'''

%% * BoardingSchoolOfHorrors: "Evening Shade"

%% * CommonMeter: The verses to "Yellow Roses".

%% * TheOneWhoMadeItOut: "In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)" is narrated by one.
%% * PepTalkSong: "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" as the standout.

%% * TitleOnlyChorus: "I Will Always Love You".

%% * WantonCrueltyToTheCommonComma: In 1982, she released a single titled "Everything's Beautiful (In ''It's'' Own Way)."

[[quoteright:250:[[PinkMeansFeminine https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dolly-parton-picture-3_8619.jpg]]]][[caption-width-right:250:[[WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}} We'd say puberty was inordinately kind to her]]]]

%% * DumbBlonde: "Dumb Blonde" is the title of Parton's first hit from 1967.

Interestingly Dolly is the owner of Sanddoller Entertainment, making her the executive producer of a little known movie called ''Film/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' and its pedestrian follow up series ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' which had some small impact.

->''Workin' 9 to 5,\\

It's enough to drive you crazy if you let it.''
-->"9 to 5"

Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is a CountryMusic singer-songwriter, actress and businesswoman with over 3,000 songwriting credits to her name. The fourth of 12 children, Parton began singing in her childhood, and recorded a few songs that gained some regional attention in the South. She signed with Monument Records in 1965, where she released a handful of singles. Popular Country star Porter Wagoner was impressed with her, and hired her as the featured female vocalist on his syndicated TV show in 1967. Wagoner also got her a contract with his longtime label Creator/RCARecords, both as a solo artist and as Wagoner's duet partner. A few modest hits came in the next couple of years, followed by the Number One "Joshua" in 1970. She stayed with RCA through the [[TheSeventies 1970s]] and into the [[TheEighties 1980s]], then switched to Creator/ColumbiaRecords and stayed there until 1995. In her career, Parton charted 25 Number One singles, counting two different versions of her SignatureSong "I Will Always Love You". Also included in her total is a duet with Music/BradPaisley, "When I Get Where I'm Going", which in early 2006 made Parton the oldest female artist to chart a Number One country song. Of course, Parton has earned several awards just for her music, including seven Grammy Awards. Her songs "9 to 5" and "Travelin' Thru" were both nominated for Academy Awards.

Parton is known for her campy, big-breasted image, as well as joking about her large amounts of plastic surgery. But underneath it all, she has a really big...[[LastSecondWordSwap heart]]. Her list of philanthropic efforts is longer than she is tall, and includes HIV/AIDS charities, wildlife conservation, large donations to both Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center of Nashville, childhood education, and her literacy campaign "Dolly Parton's Imagination Library," which gives children a book per month absolutely free of charge from birth until their first day of school. After wildfires left many in the Smoky Mountain region homeless, Dolly created the My People Fund, which not only helped to relocate families but provided them a cash stipend every month until they were back on their feet. During the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, she donated one million dollars toward vaccine research, an effort that was later directly credited with accelerating the vaccine's public rollout. Even her theme park, Dollywood, is something of a philanthropic effort, bringing a large amount of money and jobs to the chronically poverty-stricken Appalachian region--and this is just the stuff she's let us ''know'' about; allegedly she makes a hobby of reaching out anonymously to assist individuals in hard times. She is also surprisingly progressive for a woman of her background, openly joking about the transphobic reaction to gender-identifying bathroom laws and other southerners' general conservatism, sharing her love and appreciation for her large LGBTQ+ fandom, and expressing support for UsefulNotes/BlackLivesMatter.

!Tropes present in her work:

* BoardingSchoolOfHorrors: "Evening Shade"
* BreakingTheFourthWall: In the video for "Romeo," Dolly expresses amazement that the young stud would fall for her when there are so many younger women in the room. "But after all, it's only right," she adds with a wink to the viewer. "I am paying for this video."
* BuxomIsBetter: Early in her career, she was somewhat overweight, and while her outfits managed to conceal most of her fuller-figure, her bust size was so iconic that, once she lost the weight, she had implants to maintain it.
* CallBack: The line "I couldn't hold a candle to the flaming beauty that caught his eye" in "Heartbreak Express" could be a nod to both "Jolene" and "Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle To You".

* CommonMeter: The verses to "Yellow Roses".
* CoolOldLady: In the 21st century, she's gained a following of younger fans partly for her progressive views in a genre that mainly caters to conservatives, and partly for being very social media savvy (even posting a [[MemeticMutation Distracted Boyfriend]] meme about "Jolene").

* DragQueen: Dolly has stated before that were she born a man, she has no doubt she would be a drag queen. She's also a huge supporter of any queens who lip sync her in their act.
* DumbBlonde: "I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes, because I know I'm not dumb. And I'm [[LampshadeHanging not blonde]]." ("Dumb Blonde" was also the title of Parton's first hit, from 1967.)

* TheFilmOfTheSong: ''[[InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt Dolly Parton's]] Coat of Many Colors'', a 2015 made-for-TV film that did well enough in the ratings that NBC made a multi-film deal with Parton. One of the future projects is a "Jolene" film. There's also ''Jolene'', a 2008 film starring Creator/JessicaChastain based on an E.L. Doctorow short story that was loosely inspired by the song.

* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Though her platinum blonde stage hair is a wig, Dolly's heart remains pure gold, as she has a reputation as one of Nashville's bubbliest, nicest, most generous celebrities. (Underneath the wigs, she ''is'' a natural blonde, just a darker shade; the wigs look better under stage lights.)
* HappilyMarried: Still with her first husband since 1966. He's an extremely private person and has even reportedly only ever attended ''one'' of her shows, which has naturally led to rumors that their relationship is troubled, but she's always maintained they're perfectly happy.

* LetsDuet: Early on, she recorded over a dozen albums of duets with her mentor Porter Wagoner, and did a number of duets with Music/KennyRogers later in her career

* LyricalDissonance: "Here You Come Again" is a bright, bouncy song about how much it sucks to be in a RelationshipRevolvingDoor with a manipulative [[TheCasanova Casanova]].

* TheOneWhoMadeItOut: "In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)" is narrated by one.
* PepTalkSong: Several, with "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" as the standout.
* RealityIsUnrealistic / YourCostumeNeedsWork: She once ''lost'' a Dolly Parton lookalike contest, and even better, the other competitors were {{Drag Queen}}s. She says that they probably thought she was a gay midget since she was so much shorter than the rest of them.
** She once joked that it "costs a lot of money to look this cheap."

* SelfDeprecation: Is perfectly willing to joke about her appearance and her breast size.

* StylisticSuck: Essentially what her signature looks boils down to. She even once told Anderson Cooper that she specifically based it on a [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold woman of ill repute]] who she knew growing up.
* TitleOnlyChorus: "I Will Always Love You".

* WantonCrueltyToTheCommonComma: In 1982, she released a single titled "Everything's Beautiful (In ''It's'' Own Way)."
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Parton and Porter Wagoner didn't speak to each other for many years after she ended their professional partnership in 1974. He even sued her for breach of contract (which she settled out of court, paying him more than $1 million). In later years they reconciled, and after he passed away in 2007 she did a tribute concert.