Dolly Parton is an American icon in many fields: music, film, literature, business, and charity. Dolly Parton has amassed a fortune of $650 million. For more than four decades, Dolly Parton has been a top draw in the country music industry. She has had 25 number-one singles and 41 top-ten country albums.
Most people know her from Whitney Houston’s renditions of “9 to 5” and “I Will Always Love You” in the film The Bodyguard. She has sold over 100 million albums as a solo artist throughout her career. That doesn’t even account for the hundreds of millions of copies of albums other artists have sold using her songs.
Dolly has plowed a large portion of her wealth back into her home state of Tennessee through philanthropy and business ventures. Dollywood, her theme park, receives three million annual visitors, making it the twenty-fourth most popular amusement park in the United States. She had given hundreds of millions of dollars to charity and/or raised hundreds of millions for charity.
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What is Dolly Parton’s Net Worth?
| Net Worth: | $650 Million |
| Date of Birth: | Jan 19, 1946 (76 years old) |
| Place of Birth: | Sevierville |
| Gender: | Female |
| Height: | 4 ft 11 in (1.524 m) |
| Profession: | Businessperson, Author, Singer-songwriter, Actor, Musician, Composer, Multi-instrumentalist, Record producer, Film Producer, Philanthropist |
| Nationality: | United States of America |
Dolly Parton’s Early Life.
Dolly Rebecca Parton, the fourth of a total of twelve children, was born in Sevier County, Tennessee, in 1946. In her family, tobacco was grown. Her dad worked in the fields. She recalled that her father gave a bag of oatmeal to the doctor who helped deliver her as payment for his services. From a young age, she knew she wanted to be a performer, and she sang in church regularly.
Parton made her television debut on The Cas Walker Show when she was 9 years old, and she was later signed by the small Louisiana label Goldband Records. Dolly parted ways with her hometown of Dothan the day after she graduated from high school in 1964 and made the journey to Music City. Soon after starting to write songs, she began to gain widespread attention. She collaborated with her uncle Bill Owens on the writing of several top 40 hits.
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— Forbes (@Forbes) January 19, 2022
Dolly Parton’s Success.
Dolly signed with Monument Records in 1965, when she was 19 years old. At first, she was promoted to a bubblegum pop vocalist. A lot of her pop music from the beginning wasn’t very good. When one of Dolly’s country songs was covered by another artist (Bill Phillips, with Dolly on harmony) and reached No. 6 on the country charts, Monument Records realized they had to let go of their pop hopes for Dolly.
Dolly’s first country single, “Dumb Blonde,” peaked at #24 on the country chart. Interestingly enough, she did not compose this tune. It’s one of just a few non-self-composed songs that Dolly recorded during this era. Her second release, “Something Fishy,” peaked at #17 on the charts.
Both of these tracks appeared on “Hello, I’m Dolly,” Dolly’s first studio album, released in 1967. There were also cover versions of songs she had composed that were covered by other musicians on the CD. As of its highest position on the Billboard Hot Country Albums list, the album had a total of eleven chart entries.
Porter Wagoner
Dolly was invited to appear on Porter Wagoner’s weekly syndicated show that same year, and she began doing so. Wagoner quickly persuaded RCA Victor to sign Dolly after witnessing her ability and potential. In addition to becoming her producer, Porter bought half of the publishing company she co-founded with her uncle Bill Owens, Owe-Par. Therefore, Porter had a lot riding on Dolly’s success.
Featuring Porter, “Just Because I’m a Woman” was the lead single from her second studio album in 1968. Between 1968 and 1980, Porter and Dolly would release 13 studio albums together. They had 21 singles on the country charts from their albums, with “Please Don’t Stop Loving Me” at the top.
Dolly’s solo career didn’t take off for a while, unfortunately. In 1973, with the release of the single “Jolene,” she finally found success. In February of 1974, the song topped the country charts and also performed well on non-country charts around the world. By the time Rolling Stone compiled its list of the 500 greatest songs of all time, this tune had risen to #217 on the list. Dolly says that out of all her songs, “Jolene” is the one that has the most likelihood of being covered by other singers.
Although Porter Wagoner continued producing Dolly’s songs through 1975, she parted ways with him for her solo effort in April 1974.
I Will Always Love You
In 1973, Dolly started working on what would become “I Will Always Love You.” The song was her way of saying goodbye to Porter Wagoner after they had worked together for seven years. Elvis was interested in recording it, and Dolly was on the fence about letting him, but then Elvis’ manager Colonel Tom Parker demanded a 50/50 split of the publishing rights to the song. Dolly politely rejected it and instead went to work on a solo rendition of her material.
Royalties
After adjusting for inflation, Dolly made around $20 million from the royalties she received for Whitney’s cover in the early 1990s. She later joked that the song earned her “enough money to buy Graceland.” Dolly still receives about 8 cents for every radio play and $2 per album sold as the owner of the authorship and publishing rights.
Dolly Parton’s Pop Stardom and Acting Career.
Dolly’s continued success on the country music charts between 1974 and 1980 saw eight of her singles reach the top spot. Between 1976 and 1977, she presided over her variety show. Pop tunes and production characterized her self-produced 1977 album “New Harvest… First Gathering.” She performed R&B standards including “My Girl” and “Higher and Higher” on the CD.
Dolly appeared alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in the 1980 film “9 to 5”. She did more than just sing and write the movie’s theme song. Dolly received an Oscar nod and four Grammy nods for her song “9 to 5”. Both the Best Country Song and Best Country Vocal Performance Grammys went to her.
Films including “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” (1982), “Rhinestone” (1984), “Steel Magnolias” (1989), and “Joyful Noise” (2012) include Dolly in prominent roles.
Dolly Parton’s Personal Life.
Dolly wed Carl Thomas Dean in 1966. The dean avoids the spotlight. Much of his life was devoted to operating an asphalt road paving business in Music City. He and his wife are rarely seen together in public. Parton claims that Carl has only seen her play live once.
Although she does not have any biological children of her own, Parton is very involved in the lives of her nieces, and nephews, and is the godmother of performer Miley Cyrus.
