Dolly-Parton

Dolly Parton, who was born in Locust Ridge Tenn. on Jan. 19. 1946, into a humble family of 12 children at one point, realized that she could get away from the hardships of her life by using a vivid imagination. Her songs were written before she could read or write. She got her first guitar when she was 8 and started performing on an Knoxville Tenn radio station at the age of 11. In the same year, she recorded her first recording on Gold Band Records a tiny independent label. Although she became a local star while in High School, she knew her goals were much bigger. She relocated to Nashville the day after graduating in 1964. Her first charting hits with Monument Records included Dumb Blonde and Something Fishy both in 1967. At about this time Porter Wagoner was looking for an actress to sing for his television show that was syndicated. Parton joined RCA Records and then joined the Grand Ole Opry. She was hired in the year 1967. However, it wasn't until 1974 when she made the decision to quit Wagoner's show because the success of her solo albums such as Joshua Coat, Many Colors and Jolene had outstripped their collaborative efforts. Following their breakup, Parton wrote the song I Will Always Love You for Wagoner and it climbed to the top spot at No. #1 for the first time in 1974.