Dolly-Parton

Dolly Parton, born Jan. 19, 1946, in Locust Ridge Tenn. to a family of 12 poor children, who would all grow up together eventually, learned very young the way to conquer of the difficulties she faced by using her rich and vivid imagination. Before she learned to write and read, she was making up her own songs. She bought her first guitar at age 8 and began her singing career on an Knoxville Tenn radio station at the age of 11. At the time, she also recorded her first recording on Gold Band Records a tiny independent label. She established herself locally while still in high school but she dreamed of performing on a bigger stage. The singer moved to Nashville following her graduation in 1964. Dumb Blonde, Something Fishy and Dumb Blonde both charted on Monument Records in 1967. Porter Wagoner, a syndicated television show host was at the time looking for a girl to sing for his show. Parton was hired in 1966. She then joined RCA Records in 1968, and then the Grand Ole Opry was founded in 1969. Parton left the show however, in 1974 because her solo albums such as Joshua Coat Of Many Colors and Jolene beat out their collaborative albums. After their split, Parton wrote the song I Will Always Love You for Wagoner and it went to the top spot at No. The first time it made it to No. 1 was 1974.