Dolly Rebecca Parton, DHL (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, actress, author, and philanthropist, known for her work in country music. Her career began as a child performer on the radio, then recording a few singles from the age of 13. She rose to prominence in 1967 as a featured performer on singer Porter Wagoner's weekly syndicated TV program; their first duet single, a cover of Tom Paxton's "The Last Thing on My Mind", was a top-ten hit on the country singles chart and led to several successful albums before they ended their partnership in 1974. Moving towards mainstream pop music, her 1977 single "Here You Come Again" was a success on both the country and pop charts. Parton is the most honored female country performer of all time. Achieving 25 RIAA certified gold, platinum, and multi-platinum awards, she has had 25 songs reach No. 1 on the Billboard Country charts, a record for a female artist. She has 41 career top 10 country albums, a record for any artist, and she has 110 career charted singles over the past 40 years. All-inclusive sales of singles, albums, hits collections, and digital downloads during her career have topped 100 million worldwide. She has garnered 8 Grammy Awards, 2 Academy Award nominations, 10 Country Music Association Awards, 7 Academy of Country Music Awards, 3 American Music Awards, and is one of only seven female artists to win the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year Award. Parton has received 46 Grammy nominations, tying her with Beyoncé for the most Grammy nominations for a woman and placing her in eighth place overall. In 1999, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. She has composed over 3,000 songs.

• published: 25 Dec 2014
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