Happy Birthday to Dolly!

Don't you just love her? I feel like everyody does. My parents love her, my rock n' roll friends love her, young hipsters love her, the industry loves her! It's difficult to find an American country performer who has moved from deep country roots to international fame more successfully than Dolly Parton. Her  single Coat of Many Colors shows the poverty of growing up one of 12 children on a small farm in Locust Ridge, TN. At 12 years old, she was appearing on Knoxville television; at 13 she was recording on a small label & appearing on the Grand Ole Opry. Her 1967 hit Dumb Blonde (which she's not) caught Porter Wagoner's attention, & he hired Parton to appear on his television show, where their duet numbers became famous. By the time Joshua reached #1 in 1970, Parton's fame had overshadowed Wagoner's, & she had struck out on her own, but still recording duets with him.

 During the mid-70s, she established herself as a country superstar, crossing over into the pop mainstream in the early 1980s, when she smoothed out the rough edges in her music & began singing pop songs in addition to traditional country. In the early 1980s, she also began appearing in movies, including the hit 9 to 5. Though her smart marketing, image manipulation (her big, dumb blond stage persona is an act), forays into film, &her entry in the world of pop have occasionally overshadowed her music, at her core Parton is a country gal & a extremely gifted singer-songwriter. With 25- #1 singles, & a record 42 top-10 country albums.She has the distinction of having performed on a top-5 country hit in each of the last 5 decades & is tied with Reba McEntire as the only country artists with # 1 singles in 4 consecutive decades. Among her classics are Coat of Many Colors, Jolene, I Will Always Love You, 9 to 5, & Tennessee Homesick Blues, & they give a hint to why her contribution to bringing country music to a wide audience, not only in America but throughout the world, cannot be underestimated.

 My personal favorites are her late 1980s Trio albums in collaboration with Emmy Lou Harris & Linda Ronstadt. the 1st album was 10 years in the making & received strong sales & reviews when released in 1987.The album strongly revitalized Parton's temporarily stalled music career, spending 5 weeks at #1  the Country Albums chart, selling several million copies & producing 4- Top 10 country hits including Phil Spector's To Know Him Is to Love Him, which went to #1 in the USA. Trio won the Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal & was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Dolly turns an astonishing 64 today. Readers- what is your favorite Dolly Parton tune?

Brushing off gay rumors, Dolly has been married to Carl Thomas Dean since 1966. She keeps her private life... very private, but did say in an interview that infidelity is the secret to the longevity of their relationship:

"I don't want to know it, if he's cheating on me. If I'm cheating on him, he wouldn't want to know it & if we do, if that's what's making it work, then that's fine, too." She adds, "But actually I can't imagine that either of us would ever marry again."