FEATURE:
The Lockdown Playlist
PHOTO CREDIT: Irving Penn/Condé Nast
Dolly Parton at Seventy-Five: Her Finest Cuts
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AS the legendary…
Dolly Parton is seventy-five on Tuesday (19th January), I wanted to salute one of the greatest artists and humans on the planet! Not only is Parton a terrific artist; she is a humanitarian and inspirational figure who launched Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library - since the mid-1980s, she has supported many charitable efforts, particularly in the area of literacy, primarily through her Dollywood Foundation. Dolly Parton's Imagination Library mails one book per month to each enrolled child from the time of their birth until they enter kindergarten. I can only touch the tip of the iceberg when it comes to her multiple sides and how she has enriched the world. I want to grab a large chunk from Wikipedia, as we get an understanding about her popularity and just what she has achieved:
“Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, actress, author, businesswoman, and humanitarian, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album debut in 1967 with Hello, I'm Dolly, which led to success during the remainder of the 1960s (both as a solo artist and with a series of duet albums with Porter Wagoner), before her sales and chart peak came during the 1970s and continued into the 1980s. Parton's albums in the 1990s did not sell as well, but she achieved commercial success again in the new millennium and has released albums on various independent labels since 2000, including her own label, Dolly Records. She has sold more than 100 million records worldwide.
Parton's music includes Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)-certified gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards. She has had 25 songs reach No. 1 on the Billboard country music charts, a record for a female artist (tied with Reba McEntire). She has 44 career Top 10 country albums, a record for any artist, and she has 110 career-charted singles over the past 40 years. She has garnered ten Grammy Awards and 50 nominations, including the Lifetime Achievement Award and a 2020 Grammy Award with for KING & COUNTRY for their collaboration on "God Only Knows"; 10 Country Music Association Awards, including Entertainer of the Year and is one of only seven female artists to win the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year Award; five Academy of Country Music Awards, also including a nod for Entertainer of the Year; four People's Choice Awards; and three American Music Awards.
In 1999, Parton was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. She has composed over 3,000 songs, including "I Will Always Love You" (a two-time U.S. country chart-topper, as well as an international pop hit for Whitney Houston), "Jolene", "Coat of Many Colors", and "9 to 5". She is also in a select group to have received at least one nomination from the Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, Tony Awards, and Emmy Awards. As an actress, she has starred in films such as 9 to 5 (1980) and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), for which she earned Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress, as well as Rhinestone (1984), Steel Magnolias (1989), Straight Talk (1992) and Joyful Noise (2012)”.
To pay tribute to an incredible artist on her seventy-fifth birthday, I have put together a special Lockdown Playlist featuring some of Parton’s very best tracks through the year. I have compiled a Dolly Parton playlist before but, as this is a big birthday, I will expand it and bring in tracks I have not featured before (included are songs with Porter Wagoner). The world will come together to wish Parton a very happy seventy-fifth birthday in a couple of days. Let’s hope that she continues to share joy, inspiration and music…
FOR many more years to come!