Dolly Parton's path from Nashville newcomer to Billboard's No. 1 country music artist of all time — Fox News

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Dolly Parton's path from Nashville newcomer to Billboard's No. 1 country music artist of all time — Fox News | AIPROPX

Dolly Parton 's career as an entertainer spanned roughly seven decades.

During that time, the legendary country music star cemented herself as an icon not only in the music industry, but also as a movie star and a philanthropist.

From getting her start on "The Porter Wagoner Show" in 1964 to multiple Academy Award nominations, Parton forged a path for herself in the industry and paved the way for female country singers who followed her.

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Here are some of Parton's career highlights.

Parton moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in May 1964, the day after graduating from high school, to pursue a career in country music.

Three years later, she released her debut album, "Hello, I'm Dolly," in February 1967, which caught the attention of singer Porter Wagoner. He then invited Parton to join him on his TV show, "The Porter Wagoner Show," a few months later, in September 1967.

Parton's time on the show provided her with national attention and established her as a recording artist. Her duets with Wagoner, starting with "The Last Thing on My Mind," became major country hits. Their partnership also earned Parton her first Grammy nomination in 1970.

In addition to her duets with Wagoner, she also released many of her well-known songs during this era, including "Jolene," " Coat of Many Colors ," "My Tennessee Mountain Home," "Just Because I'm a Woman" and many more.

After seven years on the show, Parton felt it was time to pursue a solo career, ultimately leaving the show in 1974.

Shortly after leaving the show, Parton released "Love Is Like a Butterfly," which quickly climbed to the top of the Billboard country charts.

She continued releasing hit after hit, including "Here You Come Again," off the album with the same name, which earned her first Grammy Award win in 1979.

She had 26 songs reach No. 1 on the Billboard country charts, including "The Bargain Store," "Heartbreaker," "Starting Over Again," "Tennessee Homesick Blues" and "Why'd You Come in Here Lookin' Like That."

In addition to her own music, Parton found success covering other artists' songs in her own style, including "Stairway to Heaven," "The House of the Rising Sun," "Shine" and others.

"Yes, and they loved it. Robert’s been out on tour, so he’s been doing a lot of interviews," she told Hot Press in 2002 about Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant's reaction to her "Stairway to Heaven" cover. "And he seems to make mention of it a lot – I guess because people are asking him about it – and he says something different every time, but he seems to like it. He says he really likes what I did with it, and that makes me feel good."

Parton wrote one of her most well-known songs, "I Will Always Love You," in 1973 when she told Wagoner she wanted to leave the show and go solo.

When Wagoner responded negatively and all her efforts to get him to understand her reasoning fell on deaf ears, Parton thought she would put all her feelings into a song and play it for him to help him understand.

"I said, ‘Porter, sit down. I got something I need to sing to you,’" she told Howard Stern in 2023. "He was just sitting behind his desk and tears started rolling down. He said, ‘That’s just the best song you ever wrote, and you can go if I can produce the song.’"

The song was released in 1974 as part of her "Jolene" album, and climbed to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. It returned to No. 1 again in 1982 when Parton released a different version for "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas."

Nearly two decades after the song's initial release, Whitney Houston 's version reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it stayed for 14 consecutive weeks.

Houston recorded an R&B ballad version of the song for the soundtrack to "The Bodyguard."

In addition to staying at the No. 1 spot for 14 weeks, it was Billboard's No. 1 song of 1993, went 19-times Platinum in the U.S., and won two Grammy Awards at the 1994 ceremony. This version of the song is also the highest-selling single written by a female artist.

"I almost wrecked, honest to god. I had to pull over to a Walgreens … and listen to the rest of it," Parton told Stern about hearing Houston's version for the first time. "I couldn’t believe my little country sad song could even be done like that … and it was just overwhelming. That was one of the greatest experiences I ever had in my entire life."

Two years after leaving "The Porter Wagoner Show," Parton started her own variety show called "Dolly!" in 1976.

The show aired 26 half-hour episodes and featured guest stars such as Kenny Rogers, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Anne Murray and many others.

Ten years after that show ended, she released a second variety show, "Dolly," in 1987.

The show aired 22 one-hour episodes from September 1987 to May 1988 and was a huge ratings success, featuring guests such as Oprah Winfrey , Bruce Willis and Loretta Lynn as well as Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy.

In addition to Wagoner, Parton had several other significant collaborations throughout her career.

One of her most celebrated partnerships was with Kenny Rogers . The two first connected in 1983 when they recorded the hit song, "Islands In the Stream" together. The song was a massive crossover hit and spent two consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and earned them a Grammy nomination.

The two later released a joint Christmas album in 1984, titled "Once Upon a Christmas," and a year later collaborated on "Real Love," which reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart.

Nearly 30 years later, they released "You Can't Make Old Friends" in 2013, the title track of Rogers' album with the same name, earning them another Grammy nomination.

"It really made me very emotional," Parton told ABC News in September 2013 about the song. "Even when I was recording it I was tearful, and when I was listening to the demo it really just, you know, it ...