\n<\/p>\n
Parton began singing in her local church at the age of six, and picked up her first guitar a year later. She was encouraged by her mother\u2019s brother, Bill Owen, a singer and songwriter of some renown, and he guided her through her first radio and local television appearances at the age of 10. She recorded her first single at 13 and, that same year, made her debut with her uncle at the Grand Ole Opry at Nashville\u2019s Ryman Auditorium. She was introduced by none other than Johnny Cash (\u201cwe\u2019ve got a little girl here from up in East Tennessee\u201d) and performed George Jones\u2019s \u201cYou Gotta Be My Baby\u201d getting called back for three encores. The day after graduating high school, she headed to Nashville, where destiny awaited.<\/p>\n
Soon after arriving in Music City, Parton met Carl Dean, an asphalt paver, at a laundromat. Two years later, in 1966, they were married, and remained so<\/a> until his passing in 2025.<\/p>\n Her first successes came by writing songs for others with her uncle, including \u201cPut It Off Until Tomorrow,\u201d which was a hit for Bill Phillips, and \u201cFuel to the Flame\u201d for Skeeter Davis. Other songs were recorded by Hank Williams Jr. and Kitty Wells. Producers pushed Parton\u2019s own singing career in more of a pop than country\/western direction, which did not really connect with audiences. She persevered, though, and released her first LP, Hello, I\u2019m Dolly<\/em>, at the age of 21.<\/p>\n The first track, \u201cDumb Blonde\u201d\u2014one of the few songs Parton recorded that she did not write\u2014predicted a lot that would follow. \u201cJust because I’m blonde\/don’t think I’m dumb\/’cause this dumb blonde ain’t nobody’s fool,\u201d she sang.<\/p>\n That same year, Porter Wagoner<\/a> invited Parton to join his weekly television show, replacing an outgoing Norma Jean. The duo began recording together, releasing a string of hits over the course of six years. Signed to RCA, Parton continued to release solo work, which was not as successful as her work with Wagoner\u2014but many of the songs would go on to become more popular. In 1970, she finally scored a solo hit single with a version of the classic corn pone tune \u201cMule Skinner Blues\u201d (replete with whip cracks and yodeling). With the release of \u201cJoshua\u201d in 1971, Parton had her first chart-topper that she composed herself.<\/p>\n \u201cJoshua,\u201d which blends talking blues with Parton\u2019s soaring soprano, is a down-home tale about mountain men and dogs, and is pretty damn catchy. (It shares some commonalities with Johnny Cash\u2019s \u201cA Boy Named Sue,\u201d which is a compliment.) More hits came, including the religion-tinged \u201cCoat of Many Colors,\u201d leading to 1973 and the release of one of the finest works of art of the 20th century, \u201cJolene.\u201d<\/p>\n As the legend goes, Parton and Carl Dean were in a bank and the teller (with flamin\u2019 locks of auburn hair) was gorgeous enough to make Dolly Parton feel inadequate. The jumpy, emotionally bare song was a smash, and would later be covered by Olivia Newton John, the White Stripes, and Beyonc\u00e9<\/a>, among others. What\u2019s more, Parton is believed to have written \u201cJolene\u201d on the same night she composed \u201cI Will Always Love You,\u201d a farewell ode to Porter Wagoner. She recorded it to great acclaim at the time, but years later it became a powerhouse hit for Whitney Houston.<\/p>\n