Dolly Parton first released a single in 1959. Dwight Eisenhower then served as president, Some Like It Hot starring Marilyn Monroe reigned atop the box office, and the Dodgers, Giants, A’s, Lakers, and Warriors all played somewhere other than California. She appeared on songs up until the point of her death at 80 yesterday. In between, she charted 73 times on the country top 40. She crossed over into Billboard’s top 40 seven times, to include the number 1 “9 to 5,” number 3 “Here You Come Again,” and number 1 duet with Kenny Rogers “Islands in the Stream.”
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Just as the country charts could not contain her, neither could music. She starred in 9 to 5 alongside Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas alongside Burt Reynolds, lent her name to an amusement park, wrote bestsellers, and raised millions for charity. Though she sported iconic fake breasts and hair, her sweetness struck Americans as real.
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Her married life, which lasted more than half a century, remains mysterious even to her most devoted fans. What did her husband even look like? She similarly inked several tattoos on her body that her fans never saw. The public did not know her recent health troubles stemmed from a cancer diagnosis until late yesterday. She kept one other secret, a song she placed in a time capsule, to gain a public audience on her 99th birthday in 2045. Dolly Parton, born in a one-room cabin in Pittman Center, Tennessee (population, 454), to an illiterate father and a mother to 11 others by 35, rest in peace.
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