I bet you recognize one or more of these songs, even if you are young or old or a non-country music fan! And, you can probably sing some of the words, and also many of you probably know that these all correspond to a “singing star” by the name of DOLLY PARTON.
And, I bet many of you know that Dolly was born in 1946 and is a song-writer, singer, player of many instruments, author, actress, business lady, and humanitarian, who hit the music scene a little after the mid-1960s and probably reached her peak all during the 1970s and continuing on through the 1980s—and she is still doing these things today and is still very successful!
I bet many of you can “tell” some of her achievements as an entertainer and a business person, but suffice it for me to say that she has had 25 different songs reach #1 on the BILLBOARD Music Charts and won 10 Grammy awards and been nominated 50 different times!
I bet many of you know she was born in a one-room cabin in Tennessee, was one of 12 children, had her “birthing” partially paid with a bag of cornmeal, and often described her family as “dirt poor.”
I bet some of you know that Dolly’s first singing experiences began in churches, that she was already singing on the radio and television by the age of 10 years, that she graduated from high school in 1964—and she moved to Nashville the very next day!
I also bet that a few of you know that Dolly was “taken under the wing” of Porter Wagoner, sang with him in duets often, signed a contract with his label (RCA Records), and the two of them were CMA “Vocal Group of the Year” in 1968.
Finally, I bet that one or two of you know that she left Wagoner’s organization sometime in 1974 and that in the same year, her song, “I Will Always Love You,” which was written about her break from Wagoner’s professional organization (but not totally from recording with and associating with him), shot up to #1 on the Country Chart! And, I bet you are tired of my betting!
But, I’ll bet (one final time) you did not know that “in November of 2020, it was announced that Parton’s COVID—19 donation had helped fund the research that produced ‘Moderna’s’ vaccine. She later said that she was ‘a very proud girl today to know that I had anything at all to do with something that’s going to help us through this crazy pandemic.’” (In response to the COVID—19 pandemic, Parton donated $1,000,000, that’s one million dollars, towards research at Vanderbilt University and encouraged those who can afford it to make similar donations.)
She announced the funding was a result of, and was supposedly “inspired by, Dr. Naji Abumrad, who treated her after a 2014 auto accident, and who recently told her that the hospital was making ‘exciting advancements’ in vaccine research.”
And that is just one of the recent nice things this nice lady has done!
Parton also “started a new weekly storytime series, called ‘Goodnight with Dolly,’ through her IMAGINATION LIBRARY in March of 2020.” The 10-week program could be streamed on-line and was FREE for everyone.
She has also previously given a substantial gift to the hospital and medical center at Vanderbilt to fight pediatric cancers and leukemias.
And, a good personal interest story to conclude this article: DOLLY PARTON literally saved a 9-year-old costar on the set of her Netflix movie, Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square. Inside Edition reported that she picked the little girl up from behind to keep her from being hit by an oncoming car!
Yes, in the words of one of her own songs, DOLLY, “I Will Always Love You!”
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