The collaboration that surprised fans. Refusing a music nomination. Her shocking net worth.
Dolly Parton is one of county music's most recognizable stars,
but there's a lot you might not know about her. Keep watching to learn it all.
Dolly Parton isn't just known for her music, she's also got a headline-making figure.
In fact, her body has sparked its share of stories and rumors, including news that
she had a rib removed to achieve her signature cinched look. Parton told Woman's Day in 2014,
"Oh, that is so BS! [...] My waist is little because nothing grows in
the shade! Same reason my feet are so small."
In January 2022, Parton set the record straight about yet another falsehood surrounding her
curves. While on the Today show, she was asked if her breasts were insured, and she
quickly shut that notion down as completely false. Explaining how the rumor started,
the singer recalled talking about Betty Grable getting her legs insured, saying,
“At that time, I said, ‘Well, maybe I should get my boobs insured since I’m famous for them.’”
"But it was just a joke. I didn't do that."
Lil Nas X is a big Dolly Parton fan and, as luck would have it,
Parton is a Lil Nas X stan. The rapper first revealed his love in a July 2019 tweet, asking,
"Y'all think i can get Dolly Parton and Megan Thee Stallion on [an] Old Town Road remix?"
While the collab didn't happen,
Parton told Elle it was because she had something better in mind, saying,
"I had an opportunity to be part of that [song], but it had done so well with so
many people [that] I thought, 'Well, I'll wait and do something later on.'"
Parton also addressed the removal of "Old Town Road" from country charts,
saying it made no sense because it's a country song. Talking about
the importance of artists from other genres contributing to country music, she enthused,
"I'm all about acceptance."
With so much mutual appreciation, it came as no surprise when,
in September 2021, Lil Nas X covered "Jolene" in BBC Radio One's Live Lounge — and yes,
Parton was all for it. Tweeting her approval, she wrote,
"I was so excited when someone told me that Lil Nas X had done my song #Jolene.
I had to find it and listen to it immediately, ... and it's really good."
An avid home chef, Dolly Parton turned her love of cooking and baking into a business opportunity in
January 2022. Teaming up with the brand Duncan Hines, she launched a unique line of cake mixes
and frostings to help fans create their own yummy treats inspired by Southern cooking.
Speaking of the partnership, Parton said that she's always been a fan of authentic cooking
and her goal was to bring Southern baking to others. She's also encouraging collaboration
in the kitchen. Offering a glimpse into her home life with husband Carl Dean, Parton told People,
"I'm a messy cooker, and he's good about cleaning up for me
and keeping the stuff cleaned up around me."
This isn't the first time Parton's shared her love of cooking with others. In 2006,
she released a cookbook titled Dolly's Dixie Fixin's, which features 125 recipes from her mom
and mother-in-law. The superstar also launched a range of kitchen accessories with Williams Sonoma.
"And I love to eat, and I love to cook." In March 2022, Parton took to Twitter to tell
fans she was grateful to be nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame but
explained she was declining the nom because she didn't feel she earned the right to it.
Still, she said that she does hope to be considered again in the future, adding,
"If I'm ever worthy."
"It kind of would be like putting AC/DC in the Country Music Hall of Fame."
Parton then teased a possible future rock album, telling fans,
"My husband is a total rock 'n' roll freak, and has always encouraged me to do one."
Well, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation didn't agree and said in a statement,
"In addition to her incredible talent as an artist, her humility is another
reason Dolly is a beloved icon by millions of fans around the world."
Confirming they were keeping her nomination in place, the foundation went on to say
that rock music developed out of country and R&B, and that inductees care, quote,
"not defined by any one genre, rather a sound that moves youth culture."
Dolly Parton has penned a handful of books, but she took fans by surprise when, in March 2022,
she joined forces with James Patterson to publish a thriller. She told The Tennessean,
"I always thought I'd write a novel, or a mystery, at some point in my life,
because I do love to tell stories."
The result was Run, Rose, Run, a book about a young singer-songwriter. It used Parton's own
career for inspiration and even yielded an accompanying album featuring 12 new tracks.
It may seem like an unusual collaboration, but it's a perfect fit. The idea for the book,
which rose to No. 1 on both Amazon and the New York Times best-selling fiction list,
came from Patterson, who reached out to the music legend.
"And so I contacted Dolly, and she said, 'well come on down, let's talk.'"
As he told Fox News,
"We liked each other right away and we kind of made the deal right there — no lawyers."
Dolly Parton has amassed quite the fortune during her 50-plus year career and her net worth
is higher than you might expect. For one, she's earned millions with her music and, to date, has
written well over 700 songs, making her country music's most successful female artist ever.
What's more, she's also skillfully tapped into the music industry's earning potential by writing
songs for others. The most famous example is Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You,"
which was, of course, penned by Parton. The track earned her $10 million in royalties,
or about $20 million in today's dollars. But she's not just making money from music.
Parton has plenty of other ventures, like Dollywood and a successful publishing career,
which all come together to form an estimated net worth of $650 million. In 2017,
she was the world's sixth highest-paid woman in music, earning $37 million, according to Forbes.
Equally impressive is how much wealth she shares. Parton is a passionate philanthropist and founder
of the Imagination Library, which provides free books to children. As she told Southern Living,
"That's one of the things I'm proudest of,
of anything I've ever done. If you can read, you can find books on anything you
want. You can self-educate even if you can't afford to go to school."
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