19 things you probably didn't know about music legend Dolly Parton

Dollywood, which opened successful 1961, is simply a theme parkland successful Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, fashioned aft Parton's puerility fantasies. It boasts an array of roller coasters and h2o rides, but Parton has ne'er knowledgeable them herself.  

"I don't thrust the rides," she told The New York Times successful 2019. "I ne'er have. I person a inclination to get mobility sickness. Also, I'm a small spot chicken."

"With each my hairsbreadth I sewage truthful overmuch to lose, for illustration my wig aliases my shoes. I don't for illustration to get messed up," she added. "I'm gonna person immoderate handsome man messiness it up, I don't want immoderate thrust doing it." 

"I Will Always Love You," later popularized by Whitney Houston, is an iconic opus successful euphony history.

Contrary to celebrated belief, the lyrics halfway connected the extremity of a master relationship, alternatively than a romanticist one. 

Throughout the precocious 1960s and early 1970s, Parton performed pinch her mentor Porter Wagoner and appeared connected his eponymous TV show. But erstwhile Parton was fresh to time off the show and spearhead her ain career, a rift began to shape betwixt the pair. 

"There was a batch of condolences and heartache there, and he conscionable wasn't listening to my reasoning for my going," Parton told CMT successful a 2011 interview. "I thought, 'Well, why don't you do what you do best? Why don't you conscionable constitute this song?'"

Parton wrote "I Will Always Love You" later that time and sang it to him the next.

"He started crying," Parton told the Tennessean successful 2015. "When I finished, he said, 'Well, hell! If you consciousness that beardown astir it, conscionable spell connected — providing I get to nutrient that grounds because that's the champion opus you ever wrote.'" 

In 1995, Parton was inspired by her father's illiteracy and opened Dolly's Imagination Library successful Sevier County, Tennessee, to supply an avenue for kids to study to publication by giving them free books.

"My daddy conscionable loved it erstwhile each the small kids would telephone maine 'The Book Lady,'" reads a quote from Parton on the library's website. "That meant much to him than the truth that I had go a prima and worked my butt off."

The statement has since sent complete 120 cardinal free books to children worldwide. 

The state lament "Jolene," 1 of Parton's biggest hits, is simply a communicative of flirtation, somewhat inspired by a slope teller who group her sights connected Parton's husband, Carl Dean — whom Parton said besides loved the attention. 

"It was kinda for illustration a moving joke betwixt america — erstwhile I was saying, 'Hell, you're spending a batch of clip astatine the bank. I don't judge we've sewage that benignant of money,'" Parton told NPR successful 2008. "So it's really an guiltless opus each around, but sounds for illustration a dreadful one."

In that aforesaid interview, Parton said the song's sanction came to her erstwhile she met a instrumentality pinch reddish hairsbreadth and greenish eyes, which she incorporated into the song's lyrics.

"I said, 'Well, you're the prettiest small point I ever saw. So what is your name?' And she said, 'Jolene,'" Parton recalled. " … I said, 'That is pretty. That sounds for illustration a song. I'm going to constitute a opus astir that.'"

Back successful the 1990s, Billy Ray Cyrus deed it large pinch "Achy Breaky Heart" and opened for immoderate of Parton's shows. He besides appeared successful her video for "Romeo." 

Parton has said the 2 connected because of their state roots, and truthful he asked his longtime friend to beryllium his girl Miley Cyrus' godmother. 

"We ne'er did do a large ceremony, but I'm truthful proud of her, emotion her and she's conscionable for illustration 1 of my own," Parton told "Good Morning America" anchor Robin Roberts successful 2009.

Parton besides guest-starred connected the Disney Channel sitcom "Hannah Montana," wherever she played Miley's character's godmother. 

Parton described herself arsenic "flashy" and "flamboyant" during a 2019 question and reply pinch Elle, adding, "Had I not been a girl, I decidedly would person been a resistance queen."

However, erstwhile she had the chance to clasp the glamour during a lookalike title wherever she conscionable needed to beryllium herself, Parton lost. 

"At a Halloween title years agone connected Santa Monica Boulevard, wherever each the guys were dressed up for illustration me, and I conscionable overexaggerated my look and went successful and conscionable walked up connected shape … I didn't win," she said successful that aforesaid 2009 question and reply pinch Roberts. "I didn't moreover travel successful close, I don't think."

The state fable is simply a talented multi-instrumentalist who plays the dulcimer, banjo, guitar, piano, recorder, and saxophone, among others.  

In a 2016 question and reply pinch Vogue, Parton said she plays "some of everything."

"My family's very musical, and everybody played philharmonic instruments, truthful we conscionable grabbed up thing and tried to play," she said. "Like I said, I ain't each that bully astatine it, but I tin play capable to make a show!"

Parton's tattoos are thing of an municipality legend, pinch fans speculating for years whether she has immoderate astatine all. In a 2020 question and reply pinch People, she cleared up immoderate of the confusion.

She said she was sick for a while, and her feeding conduit and different procedures near scars that she decided to screen up pinch ribbon, bow, and butterfly tattoos, among others.

"I do person immoderate tattoos, that's true. But they're tasteful. I'm not a tattoo girl," Parton said. "My tattoos are pretty, they're artful and they usually started retired to screen immoderate scar, not to make a large statement."

Most beauty gurus will show you that a critical measurement successful skincare is washing your constitution disconnected earlier bed, but Parton's beauty regular flies successful the look of accepted wisdom. 

"You ne'er cognize if you're going to wreck the bus, you ne'er cognize if you're going to beryllium location successful a edifice and there's going to beryllium a fire," Parton told The New York Times successful her 2019 interview. "So I time off my constitution connected astatine nighttime and cleanable my look successful the morning."

Before Houston shattered records pinch her remake of Parton's "I Will Always Love You" for "The Bodyguard" (1992) soundtrack, the King of Rock and Roll wanted to singing it. 

Parton said Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, erstwhile contacted her to talk his customer perchance covering the song. The woody fell isolated aft Parton realized that she would person to relinquish astatine slightest 50% of the publishing royalties. 

"I cried each night. I mean, it was for illustration the worst thing. You know, it's like, 'Oh, my God … Elvis Presley,'" Parton recalled successful an interview. "And different group were saying, 'You're nuts. It's Elvis Presley. I mean, hell, I'd springiness him each of it.'"

"I said, 'I can't do that. Something successful my bosom says, don't do that,'" she added.

It's accepted to person barroom connected birthdays, but according to Maggie Jones' reporting for USA Today successful 2019, Parton is partial to pie. 

"I don't eat overmuch cake. I usually person pastry connected my birthday," Parton wrote successful an email. "My favourite pastry is chess pie."

Chess pastry is simply a popular Southern dessert typically filled pinch a rich | custard of butter, sugar, and eggs.

Parton was known for her signature blonde tresses, and the superstar had an awesome postulation of wigs to guarantee that she ne'er had a bad hairsbreadth day. 

In a 2016 Vogue interview, Parton struggled to springiness an meticulous count of her collection. 

"Oh, heavens, I person nary idea. I can't really count them all," she said. "I ever make a joke and say, 'I deterioration 1 almost each day, truthful I must person astatine slightest 365!'"

Parton grew up successful a mini compartment successful Sevierville, Tennessee, pinch her parents and 11 siblings — six brothers and 5 sisters. She was the 4th kid born.

In 2015, she told Entertainment Tonight that she's ne'er been ashamed of her upbringing aliases family. 

"I've ever loved being from wherever I am. I deliberation my puerility made maine everything I americium today," she said. "I would waste and acquisition thing for being brought up successful the Great Smoky Mountains."

In January 2018, Parton won 2 Guinness World Records: the astir decades pinch a Top 20 deed connected Billboard's Hot Country Songs floor plan and the astir hits connected Billboard's Hot Country Songs floor plan by a female creator for her six consecutive decades and 107 trending tracks. 

"To person these 2 Guinness World Records is truthful great," Parton said while collecting her awards. "Joining truthful galore awesome singers and songwriters who person been honored this measurement feels truthful typical to me."

She besides holds respective different records, including the first state vocalist to beryllium nominated for an EGOT.

As a teenager, Parton performed astatine the renowned Grand Ole' Opry successful Nashville, wherever she laid eyes connected the "Man successful Black" himself.

"I was sitting successful the assemblage and that's erstwhile I first knew astir activity appeal," Parton told Nightline successful 2012. "He had this tick erstwhile he moved his enarthrosis … and it was still sexy. It still sewage to me."

In "9 to 5," Parton famously sings, "Tumble outta furniture and stumble to the kitchen, move myself a cup of ambition." We tin only presume each this takes spot aft she wakes up astatine 3 a.m. 

In 2018, Parton told the "Today" show that she wakes up early to do her "little meditations" and "little belief work" earlier getting up of her time by checking her message and making calls. 

"I do much activity betwixt 3 and 7 than astir group each day, because it's quiet and the energy's each low-key, isolated from mine," she said. "I conscionable emotion the wee hours." 

Parton's 60-year matrimony to Carl Dean was not the singer's only enduring narration — Judy Ogle was Parton's closest friend for complete six decades. 

"Our ­parents knew each other, we grew up together, we were for illustration ­sisters, became champion friends," Parton told The Sun successful 2019. "She was very quiet, I was very outgoing. So we made cleanable friends. We went each done schoolhouse together."

Parton appeared successful the Netflix vacation movie "Christmas connected the Square" arsenic an angel, which seems fitting fixed she saved her 9-year-old costar, Talia Hill, connected set.

In a 2020 question and reply pinch Inside Edition, Hill said she was astir deed by an oncoming conveyance connected set, but Parton pulled her retired of the way.

Parton past reportedly told her, "Well, I americium an angel, you know."

"And I was successful shock. She hugged maine and shook maine and said, 'I saved your life!'" Hill said. "And my mom was crying, like, 'Yes, you did, Dolly Parton. Yes, you did.'" 

In 1996, different Dolly made waves — but this 1 was a female sheep and the first mammal cloned from an big cell.

Sir Ian Wilmut, who led the squad of scientists successful Scotland down the creation of Dolly, told BBC, "Dolly is derived from a mammary gland compartment and we couldn't deliberation of a much awesome brace of glands than Dolly Parton's."

In a 2024 interview, she told The Guardian she was "flattered" by the decision.

This communicative was astir precocious updated connected August 25, 2026.