Parton began performing as a child, singing on local radio and television programs in East Tennessee. At age 9 she was appearing on "
The Cas Walker Show" on
WBIR-TV in
Knoxville, Tennessee, and at 13, she was recording on a small record label,
Goldband, and appearing at the
Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. The day after she graduated from high school in
1964 she moved to Nashville, taking many traditional elements of folklore and popular music from East Tennessee with her.
Parton's initial success came as a songwriter, writing hit songs for
Hank Williams, Jr. and
Skeeter Davis. She signed with
Monument Records in late
1965, where she was initially pitched as a
bubblegum pop singer, earning only one national chart single, "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby," which did not crack the
Billboard Top 100. Additional pop singles also failed to chart.
The label agreed to have Parton sing country music after her composition, "Put It Off Until Tomorrow," as recorded by
Bill Phillips (and with Parton, uncredited, on harmony), went to No. 6 on the Country Charts in 1966. Her first country single, "Dumb Blonde" (one of the few songs during this era that she recorded but didn't write), reached No. 24 on the country charts in 1967, followed the same year with "Something Fishy," which went to Number 17. The two songs anchored her first full-length album,
Hello I'm Dolly.
In
1967, Parton was asked to join the weekly syndicated country music TV program hosted by
Porter Wagoner, replacing
Norma Jean, who had returned to
Oklahoma. Parton also signed with
RCA Victor, Wagoner's label, during this period, where she would remain for the next two decades. Wagoner and Parton immediately began a hugely successful career as a vocal duet in addition to their solo work. Their first single together, a cover of
Tom Paxton's "
The Last Thing on My Mind," reached the top ten on the
U.S. country
charts in late
1967, and was the first of over a dozen duet singles to chart for them during the next several years.
Parton is a hugely successful songwriter, having begun by writing
country music songs with strong elements of
folk music in them, based upon her upbringing in humble mountain surroundings, and reflecting her family's evangelical Christian background. Her songs "
Coat of Many Colors" and "
Jolene" have become classics in the field, as have a number of others. As a composer, she is also regarded as one of country music's most gifted story tellers, with many of her narrative songs based on persons and events from her childhood. Parton has published almost 600 songs with
BMI to date and has earned 37 BMI awards for her material.
She stayed with the Wagoner show and continued to record duets with him for seven years, then made a break to become a solo artist. In 1974, her song, "
I Will Always Love You" (written about her break from Wagoner), was released and went to #1 on the country charts. Around the same time,
Elvis Presley indicated that he wanted to cover the song. Parton was interested until Presley's manager,
Colonel Tom Parker, told her that she would have to sign over half of the publishing rights if Presley recorded the song (as was the standard procedure for songs he recorded). . Parton refused and that decision is credited with helping make her many millions of dollars in
royalties from the song over the years. It was decisions like these, in fact, that caused her to be called "The Iron Butterfly" in showbiz circles. She also claims to have made over $6 million from
Whitney Houston's cover version of this song
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