Was there anyone like Dolly Parton? Nah. Here’s our shiny, rhinestoned gift to you – seven songs to tell the story of a singular country icon, and to remember why we will always love her.
By Eliza Janssen, Deputy Editor
‘My Tennessee Mountain Home’
A one-room cabin on the banks of the Little Pigeon River; 12 children and barely a crumb to eat. When Dolly was born on 19 January 1946, the doctor was paid with a bag of cornmeal for delivering her.
She was always proud of her upbringing (‘In the Good Old Days [When Times Were Bad]’), crediting her father – an illiterate sharecropper – for her business sense, and her mother for the early education in Appalachian folklore and ballads that would lead her to songwriting.
Despite all the Parton family’s hardship, this beatific slice of country focuses on the simple beauty of a life “as peaceful as a baby’s sigh”. You can hear the gratitude in her voice that would later be paid back tenfold, through Dolly’s massive investment in her hometown: raising millions for flood and wildfire relief, funding local high school scholarships and putting Pigeon Forge on the map with Dollywood.
‘Dumb Blonde’
Ever apolitical, Dolly Parton refused to describe herself as a feminist. But the way she lived and looked – and sang, as in this sassy clapback to close‑minded assumptions – felt profoundly third‑wave. Looks aren’t everything, but Dolly believed fiercely in the right of self-expression. Her towering blonde hairdo, iconic boobs and outrageous fashion originated when Dolly was a child, fascinated by a local woman others just called “the town tramp”.
We have this anonymous Sevier County style icon to thank for all the shoulder pads, sequins and rhinestones. “Everybody said, ‘She’s just trash’,” Dolly remembered in 2022: “and in my little girl mind, I thought, ‘Well, that’s what I’m going to be when I grow up.’”
‘Jolene’
Ranked as Rolling Stone’s top country song of all time, ‘Jolene’ might be the purest proof of Dolly’s artistry: the nimble storytelling, the desperate soprano vocals. Its staying power stretches across generations, right up to Beyoncé’s Dolly‑approved cover in 2024 (“Beyoncé is giving that girl some trouble and she deserves it”).
The real Jolene – apparently a flirtatious bank teller with “flaming locks of auburn hair” – never stood a chance. Dolly and her “man”, businessman Carl Dean, were one of showbiz’s quietest and longest-lasting power couples. So little about Dean was known, besides a handful of grainy photos and the fact that he and Dolly were married for almost 60 years. He died last year: Dolly will be buried next to him.
‘I Will Always Love You’
When Dolly was just 13, she recorded her first single, appeared at the Grand Ole Opry, and was encouraged by Johnny Cash to follow her heart as a country artist. His advice was probably still ringing in her ears in 1973, when Dolly wrote this seminal breakup song.
She had been appearing as the pretty sidekick of established country star Porter Wagoner on his self-titled weekly TV program. But Dolly felt trapped, ready to fly: yearning to put out more solo records and step back from their string of successful duets. What you’re hearing, then, isn’t a woman giving up on her lover, but a woman outgrowing her mentor, professionally ending things on a note of eternal respect, thanks and, “above all this”, love.
With deep regret, Dolly turned down Elvis Presley’s request to cover the song when his infamous manager Colonel Tom Parker demanded half the publishing rights. “Then when Whitney [Houston]’s version came out, I made enough money to buy Graceland,” she joked in 2017. The songwriter was humbled by the phenomenal success of Houston’s better‑known power ballad version, revealing that she “almost wrecked” her car when she first heard it on the radio: “I couldn’t believe my little country sad song could even be done like that.” When Dolly was just 13, she recorded her first single, appeared at the Grand Ole Opry, and was encouraged by Johnny Cash to follow her heart as a country artist. His advice was probably still ringing in her ears in 1973, when Dolly wrote this seminal breakup song.
She had been appearing as the pretty sidekick of established country star Porter Wagoner on his self-titled weekly TV program. But Dolly felt trapped, ready to fly: yearning to put out more solo records and step back from their string of successful duets. What you’re hearing, then, isn’t a woman giving up on her lover, but a woman outgrowing her mentor, professionally ending things on a note of eternal respect, thanks and, “above all this”, love.
With deep regret, Dolly turned down Elvis Presley’s request to cover the song when his infamous manager Colonel Tom Parker demanded half the publishing rights. “Then when Whitney [Houston]’s version came out, I made enough money to buy Graceland,” she joked in 2017. The songwriter was humbled by the phenomenal success of Houston’s better‑known power ballad version, revealing that she “almost wrecked” her car when she first heard it on the radio: “I couldn’t believe my little country sad song could even be done like that.”
‘9 to 5’
The best song ever written for a movie? Dolly’s star only continued to rise as the 1980s dawned, starting the decade with this country‑pop crossover to match her starring role in the film of the same name. The typewriter-like ticking you hear before the first verse is actually Dolly’s acrylic nails, each click capturing the impatient energy of desk-bound women ready to conquer the world, cup of ambition in hand.
It’s an anthem of gender equality, but everybody can relate to its working-class grit and solidarity. When them lousy bosses “use your mind and they never give you credit”, don’t sweat it: Comrade Dolly is here to commiserate with y’all at the end of the day.
‘After the Gold Rush’
Always keen to collab and share the love, Dolly took the lead vocal on this radiant supergroup track with fellow country stars Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris. It’s a Neil Young cover, which explains the vaguely apocalyptic lyrics. When the ladies asked Young what it all meant, “He said, ‘I have no idea,’” Dolly reported. “I thought that was so funny. I think it’s about the Second Coming or the invasion of aliens, or both.”
From UFOs to far more identifiable folks: Dolly has also shared songs with Willie Nelson, Cher, Stevie Nicks, Elton John, Paul McCartney and her beloved goddaughter Miley Cyrus. And then, of course, there’s Kenny Rogers...
‘Islands in the Stream’
Dolly’s final Instagram post celebrated 43 years of this schmaltzy, heartfelt karaoke fave, all about souls meeting and anchoring one another. Named after an Ernest Hemingway book; written by the Bee Gees; perfected by our Big Issue community.
Yep. In 2000, a bunch of brave vendors appeared in an infamous commercial, singing Dolly and Kenny’s unstoppable duet to TV viewers across the country.
It doesn’t matter whose part you’re singing, or whether you’re off key – the message is still so clear, and so very Dolly. We rely on each other (uh huh).
Check out the full playlist below.
Buy the Dolly Parton edition of The Big Issue magazine for a limited time from your local vendor, or online.
Cover photo: Supplied
Published in Ed#769