Now a proven actress, Parton began securing acting roles alongside heavy-hitters of the '80s including Sylvester Stallone in "Rhinestone Cowboy" in 1984.ĭolly Parton posing next to a Dollywood sign in 1988. 1 on pop, country, and contemporary charts and earned numerous awards nominations. Parton continued to ride the wave of success into 1983 when she teamed up with Kenny Rogers for the hit single "Islands In The Stream," which reached No. Later in the 1992 film "The Bodyguard," Whitney Houston once again popularized the song with her famous R&B version, which spent what was at the time a record-breaking 14 weeks at No.
Her new angle on the song paid off - Parton earned a Grammy nomination for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. Parton tweaked the song from its country roots and gave it a more pop-centric sound. He has attended a few of Parton's concerts throughout the years, but after attending one award show in 1966, he told the singer, "'Dolly, I want you to have everything you want, and I'm happy for you, but don't you ever ask me to go to another one of them dang things again!'"Īlthough the song was released on the album "Jolene" in 1974, it was Parton's performance in the 1982 film "The Best Little W-house in Texas" that helped popularize "I Will Always Love You." Despite his wife's fame, Dean, a retired businessman who used to run an asphalt-laying company, prefers to stay out of the public eye. But I said, 'I can't get married in a courthouse because I'll never feel married.' So we found a little Baptist church in town, and went up to Pastor Don Duvall and said, 'Would you marry us?' We got pictures on the steps right outside the church." My mother made me a little white dress and a little bouquet and a little Bible. "We went across the state line to Ringgold, Georgia. "It was just my mother and Carl and me," Parton told CMT in 2016. They were married in Georgia against the wishes of her record label, which thought that marriage would hamper the singer's career. Parton was 18 when she met 21-year-old Dean outside the Wishy Washy Laundromat in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1964. The following year Bill Phillips charted in the Top 10 twice thanks to two songs written by Parton and Owens: "Put It Off Until Tomorrow" and "The Company You Keep." Parton recorded and released six songs on the album "Hits Made Famous by Country Queens" in 1963 and in 1965, she and her uncle were signed by Fred Foster to Combine publishing house and to Monument Records. I was so proud I walked around for days with my chest all stuck out. "There I was, actually hearing myself sing, not on a tape or studio monitor but on a real radio station that thousands of people were listening to… at that very moment. "I will never forget hearing on a Knoxville station, WIVK," she said. The duo was signed to Tree Publishing and Mercury Records in Nashville in 1962 and recorded the songs "It's Sure Gonna Hurt" and "The Love You Gave." The songs didn't make the charts and the label dropped Parton and Owens, according to the Library of Congress.ĭespite this, Parton has said it was magical hearing herself on the radio. "Now that I've been lucky enough and fortunate enough to see that dream come true, I wonder if some little kid might say 'I bet Dolly Parton once stood here' or 'I'm standing where Dolly Parton stood.'" "I just have so many memories, even as a child watching the people backstage and just standing out there on that stage where all the great people stood, just thinking maybe some day I could be part of them," Parton said.
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In a 2019 interview with Variety about the TV special, Parton reminisced about how informative those early days at the Opry were. Parton was inducted to the Grand Ole Opry 10 years later in 1969 and in 2019, the TV special "Dolly Parton: 50 Years at the Opry" - though it had actually been 60 years - aired on NBC, honoring her first performance at the famed Opry House.
On the night of her performance, Johnny Cash introduced the young Parton and, after singing George Jones' song "You Gotta Be My Baby," she received three encores.
"For me, the Opry is like the song 'New York, New York' - if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere," she said, according to her Opry artist bio.Īt age 13 she got her chance. Parton has said it was always her dream to perform at the Opry.