Dolly-Parton

Dolly Parton, born Jan. 19, 1946, in Locust Ridge Tenn. to a poor family of twelve children, who would all grow up with them eventually. She learned early how to get out of difficulties through her large and creative imagination. Before she learned to write and read, she began making up her own songs. Her first guitar purchase came when she was just 8 years old and began performing on an Knoxville Tenn radio station at age 11. She released her debut album during the same year with Gold Band Records, a small, independent label. While she was in school, she had already made a name of herself in the local music scene. The goal for her was to be more widely acknowledged. The day after she graduated in 1964, she moved to Nashville. Dumb Blonde was her first album to be charted on Monument Records. Porter Wagoner had been looking for a female singer to join his syndicated show at this point. Parton was found in the year 1967 she signed with RCA Records by 1968, and was a part of the Grand Ole Opry. Her departure from the show came, however, in 1974 because her solo albums like Joshua Coat Of Many Colors and Jolene over-sold the collaborations. Parton composed I Will Always Love You for Wagoner after the breakup. It reached number one. The first time it made it to No. 1 was 1974.