Parton, Dolly Rebecca (1946– )

US country singer and songwriter. Her combination of cartoonlike sex-symbol looks and intelligent, assertive lyrics made her popular beyond the genre, with hits like ‘Jolene’ (1974), but deliberate crossover attempts were less successful. She has also appeared in films, including 9 to 5 (1980) and Steel Magnolias (1989).

She teamed up with Kenny Rogers in 1983 to reach the number-one position in the USA and top-ten in the UK with a Bee Gees composition, ‘Islands In The Stream’. With Rogers too, she achieved another US country number-one in 1985 with ‘Real Love’. ‘Trio’, with US country singers Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris, won a Grammy for best country album in 1987. In 1992, Whitney Houston had the biggest-selling single of the year in the UK with Parton's composition ‘I Will Always Love You’. Her later albums include Treasures (1995) and her first bluegrass collection, The Grass Is Blue (1999). Much of her earnings are funnelled into her entertainment park, Dollywood, which she established in Tennessee in 1986. In September 1999 she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.