But the quality that gave her enduring star power was her ability to connect with people. Coming from a self-described “dirt-poor” family, Parton often stood in as a symbol of the working-class American and regularly threw her name and money behind causes she believed in.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Parton donated $1 million to vaccine research at Vanderbilt University in 2020, making her an early sponsor of Moderna’s vaccine development.
She conducted a literacy program for preschool children across the United States, as well as in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland, and provided scholarships to high school students in the Tennessee county where she was born.
The county erected a life-size statue of her in front of the courthouse in thanks, though she declined another proposed statue of her in Nashville in 2021, saying, “Given all that’s going on in the world, I don’t think putting me on a pedestal is appropriate at this time.”
It was this ability to stay true to her roots, combined with her drive to work hard and her nonpartisanship, that fueled her appeal among conservatives and liberals in a politically polarized America.
‘MAMA HAD THIS HAUNTING VOICE’
Dolly Rebecca Parton was born on January 19, 1946, in Pittman Center, Tennessee, and grew up in a one-room cabin in nearby Locust Ridge. One of 12 children of tobacco farmer Robert Lee Parton, her difficult childhood gave credibility to her often personal songs trilled in a distinctive soprano.
Her mother, Avie Lee, would sing constantly — songs from England, Ireland and Wales that told a story. “Mama had this haunting voice, and Lord you would feel it,” Parton wrote in her 2020 book “Dolly Parton, Songteller” co-authored with Robert K. Oermann.
Parton got her first real guitar when she was eight. Her mother would say, whenever she had guests: “I want you to hear this song this little thing has made up. It’s really good.” Parton loved the attention.
She was singing on a local radio station by age 11, and at age 13 was appearing on the Grand Ole Opry, a weekly country music concert in Nashville, Tennessee.
After graduating from high school, she moved to Nashville to pursue a music career and began a famous partnership with country music singer Porter Wagoner, which would include a years-long stint on his TV show and 14 top-ten duets. She penned her hit song “I Will Always Love You” as a farewell to Wagoner when she decided to pursue a solo career.
