Dolly-Parton

Dolly Parton, who was born in Locust Ridge Tenn. on Jan. 19. 1946 to a low-income family, with twelve kids later on, realized early that she was able to escape suffering through her imaginative mind. Prior to learning how to write and read Dolly Parton had already begun to compose her own music. After getting her first instrument at age 8, she started to perform on local radio stations from Knoxville, Tennessee. The same time, Gold Band Records was a small independent record label. Although she was in school, she had already made a name of herself on the local scene. But her dream was to be able to perform at a much bigger scale. In 1964, the day that followed her graduation from high school, she relocated to Nashville. Her first charting records with Monument Records included Dumb Blonde and Something Fishy both in 1967. Around this time, Porter Wagoner was looking for a new girl singer for his syndicated television show. Parton became a member of Grand Ole Opry 1969 after contracting with RCA Records. The year 1974 was the first that she opted to walk away from Wagoner's band because the popularity of her solo albums such as Joshua Coat, Many Colors and Jolene had outstripped their collaborative efforts. The two split in 1974, Parton wrote the song I Will Always Love You for Wagoner and it debuted at the top spot at No. 1. for the first time in 1974.