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A Star is Born
Dolly Rebecca Parton is born to Robert Lee Parton and Avie Lee Parton near Sevierville, Tennessee -
First Song
Dolly Parton writes her first song. "Little Tiny Tassle Top." -
First Instrument
Dolly Parton makes her first guitar out of an old mandolin and two bass guitar strings -
Starts Preforming
Dolly Parton begins performing as a regular singer no The Cas Walker Show in Knoxville, Tennessee -
First Recording
Dolly Parton makes her first recording, "Puppy Love," on Goldband Records. The angles is released in 1959 but doesn't make the charts -
First Performance
Dolly Parton gives her first performance at the Grand Old Opry. She was introduced by Johnny Cash, she than performed his "You Gotta Be My Baby" and get not one but three encores. -
Signed to First Label with her uncle
Dolly Parton and her uncle Bill Owens are signed to Tree Publishing and Mercury Records in Nashville. Dolly Parton and Owens write "It's Sure Gonna Hurt" which Dolly Parton records. That is backed with "The Love You Gave" which is also credited to "Dolly Parton with the Merry Melody Singers". Her first single on a major but it fails to chart which gets Dolly Parton and Uncle Bill Owens are dropped from Tree and Mercury -
Signed Again
Dolly Parton and Bill Owens get signed by Fred Foster to his Combine publishing house and to Monument Records. -
Finally on the Charts
Bill Phillips makes the Top Ten with two recordings of Dolly Parton and Bill Owens songs, "Put It Off Until Tomorrow" and "The Company You Keep" -
First Full Album
Parton's first full-length album is released on Monument Records. The album was called, Hello, I'm Dolly -
Appearing on Billboard country charts
Dolly Parton's first appearance on the Billboard country charts with not only one but two singles recorded for Monument. The two songs that made it were "Dumb Blonde" which was number 24 and "Something Fishy" which was number 17 -
First Show Appearance
Dolly Parton first appears on the Porter Wagoner Show -
First Duet Album
Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner's first duet album, Just between You and Me, is released on RCA. -
First Solo Album for RCA
Dolly Parton's first solo single for RCA called, "Just Because I'm a Woman," is released. Which is also the title for her first solo album for the label -
Winning Awards
Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner win the Country Music Association (CMA) award for Vocal Group of the Year. They also win the Music City News (MCN) award for Duet of the Year -
First Number One Hit
Dolly Parton's solo single "Joshua" which becomes her first number one hit! -
More Songs Making the Charts
Dolly Parton riches number one on the country charts with "Jolene" and it reaches number six on the pop charts. "I will Always Love You"; "Please Don't Stop Loving Me"; "Love is like a Butterfly"; "The Bargain Store" all also reach number one of the country charts. April After this she quits the Porter Wagoner television and radio show -
Another Huge Award is Won
Dolly Parton wins the CMA Female Vocalist of the Year award! -
First Artist To...
New Harvest... First Gathering goes platinum, which made Dolly Parton the first female country artist to have an album sell one million copies. Dolly Parton also wins her first Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Female from the album Here You Come Again. -
Nominations left and right
Dolly Parton's first film, 9 to 5 is released. Which earns her Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress, Best New Film Star, and Best Original Song (for the title song) and also the People's Choice Award for Favorite Movie Song and also an Oscar nomination for the title song -
Inducted into...
Dolly Parton is inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame -
Dollywood
A theme park centered around Dolly Parton was opened near Parton's hometown in Tennessee. It was called Dollywood -
Dolly's First Trio
Dolly Parton with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt make it as a top ten pop album from their trio. It not only wins a Grammy but also the ACM Album of the Year and MCN Vocal Collaboration of the Year and last CMA Top Vocal Event awards -
All Time Top Female Country Artist
Eagle When She Flies is the album that gives Dolly Parton another number one hit. With the song "Rocking Years," with Ricky Van Shelton at the top. Dolly Parton is Billboard's All-Time Top Female Country Artist. She is the only woman to chart number one records in not one but three different decades -
Staying at the Top
For her film The Bodyguard, Whitney Houston records Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You". This recording set a than-record of fourteen weeks at number one. Keeping Dolly Parton at the top, once again. -
First Self Record Label
Dolly Parton releases Honky Tonk Angels with Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn. This is the first album to be released through Columbia and Blue Eye, which is Dolly Parton's own record label -
Autobiography
Dolly Parton released her autobiography called, Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business. Which is a New York Times Bestseller -
First Release on Independent Label
Dolly Parton's first bluegrass album called, The Grass Is Blue, is released to great critical acclaim. This is Dolly's first release on the Independent label Sugar Hill Records and Blue Eye Records which is her own record label -
Another Grammy
The Grass Is Blue wins yet another Grammy for Dolly Parton. It wins the Best Bluegrass Album. Dolly Parton than releases Little Sparrow which is bluegrass-and folk-based. Which is another critical and commercial success. -
Going on Tour For the First Time in a Decade
And another great hit from Dolly Parton. Little Sparrow ends up winning the Grammy for Best Country Female Vocal Performance. It also is named the Best Bluegrass Album by the Association for Independent Music Awards. Dolly Parton then releases another bluegrass influenced CD which includes a cover of "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin. After all this success Dolly Parton decides to go on tour for the first time in a decade -
Being Recognized Once Again After Nearly A Decade
Dolly Parton gets two more Grammy nominations earned from, "Halos & Horns". And yet another nomination for the CMA Female Vocalist Of The Year which is her first recognition in sixteen years. After Sugar Hill releases a tribute album and Well Music Group release a new collection of songs by Dolly Parton, two of her songs are named by Country Music Television as among the 100 Greatest Songs of Country Music -
Another Big Performance
The annual Capitol Fourth concert in Washington, D.C. features Dolly Parton. -
Accepting A Very Important Medal
Dolly Parton accepts from the Library of Congress the Living Legend Medal