Looking Back at Dolly Parton's Six-Decade Career

Following the announcement of Dolly Parton's death at 80, fans are reflecting on a career that spanned more than six decades across music, film, television, business and philanthropy.

Parton moved to Nashville as a young woman and landed her first Top 40 hit, "Dumb Blonde," in 1967, the same year she joined "The Porter Wagoner Show." Her fame grew through the 1970s and '80s with hits including "Jolene," "I Will Always Love You" and "9 to 5," and albums such as "Coat of Many Colors" and "My Tennessee Mountain Home." She later released "Rockstar," a rock album featuring collaborations with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Miley Cyrus and others. Parton won 10 Grammy Awards from 55 nominations and was credited by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2014 with more than 100 million units sold worldwide.

On screen, Parton starred in "9 to 5" alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" with Burt Reynolds, "Rhinestone" with Sylvester Stallone, and "Steel Magnolias" with Julia Roberts and Sally Field. She also appeared on shows including "Designing Women," "Hannah Montana" and "Grace & Frankie." An autobiographical musical, "Dolly: A True Original Musical," is set to open in New York on January 19, 2027 — what would have been her 81st birthday.

As a businesswoman, Parton was estimated by Forbes in June 2025 to be worth $450 million, ranking 78th on its list of America's wealthiest self-made women. Much of that wealth came from Dollywood, the Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, theme park she took an ownership stake in in 1986. She also wrote several books, including a cookbook with her sister and a novel with James Patterson, and opened a truck stop, Dolly's Tennessean Travel Stop, in Cornersville, Tennessee.

Her philanthropy included launching the nonprofit Imagination Library in 1995, which gifts books to children.