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The late star created some of the most beloved country and pop songs in American music
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Music — Rob LeDonne
The death of Dolly Parton today at age 80 has the world mourning one of America’s most beloved entertainers: a generation-spanning performer and country music icon who took as much pride in her music as she did her sparkling appearance. Parton’s impressive musical output across a 60-year career and a whopping 50 albums was built on a foundation of her undeniable knack for songwriting: ranging from heartfelt lyrics to catchy hooks. Here are just 10 of Parton’s greatest contributions to the American musical lexicon.
Related: Celebrity tributes pour in for Dolly Parton: ‘a gift to the world’
It’s a country classic that tows the line between tough and vulnerable, and according to an oft-told story by Parton, inspired by true events. Based on a real person Parton felt threatened by that her late husband Carl Dean knew, the music legend turned her anxiety into some of the sharpest lines of her career which hum along on an unforgettable melody. As legend has it, the real person was a red-headed clerk at a local bank. Meanwhile, the actual name came from a young fan she signed an autograph for; the chorus came from Parton repeating Jolene over and over so she wouldn’t later forget it. Landing on multiple lists that rank the greatest songs of all time, Jolene also holds the distinction of being nominated for a Grammy for best female country vocal performance twice: once for the original track in 1975, and then again for a live recording a year later.
Demonstrating Parton’s undeniable knack for songwriting, one of the most amazing stories in the annals of music history is that Parton wrote Jolene and her tour de force romantic anthem I Will Always Love You within a stunningly short span of each other. (The previous legend stated that she wrote them on the same day, which Parton humbly disputed in 2022). Funnily enough, Parton didn’t write this one in tribute to her husband: instead, it was an ode to mentor Porter Wagoner, with Parton penning the track in light of going solo after closely collaborating with the fellow country icon. “If I should stay, I would only be in your way,” she memorably croons as the song opens. Sure, fellow icon Whitney Houston would later make the song her own, but Parton’s version is just as legendary.
Get that steaming cup of ambition! It’s a working-class anthem for the ages, and Parton makes the office grind sound kind of fun. Recorded for the 1980 comedy 9 to 5 which starred Parton alongside Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda as hard workers with an ax to, well, grind, both the blockbuster movie and song launched Parton firmly into the mainstream upon its release. The bouncy tune kicks off with that pulsating piano, almost mimicking a machine, before busting into its instantly memorable chorus and it was all inspired by her nails. On set, Parton would scrape her acrylics together, with the rhythm and beat born out of a unique movement only Parton could concoct. The 9 to 5 track itself became Parton’s first Hot 100 No 1 hit, and it would later inspire a 2009 musical.
Related: ‘It costs a lot of money to look this cheap’: Dolly Parton’s life in quotes
Any fan of Parton knows about her hardscrabble youth; growing up in poverty in the mountains of rural Tennessee before she evolved into the dazzling legend we know her as today. Parton never forgot those humble beginnings and would share her inspirational story in a series of projects throughout her life. That includes her signature song Coat of Many Colors which was inspired by a chilly Tennessee fall back in the day. “I recall a box of rags that someone gave us, and how my momma put the rags to use,” she delicately sings in the tender ode ripped from her childhood. “Momma sewed the rags together, sewin’ every piece with love, she made my coat of many colors, I was so proud of.” OK, where are the tissues?
Take one listen to Islands in the Stream and it will be impossible to get the earworm out of your head. Holding the distinction as Parton’s second-ever Hot 100 No 1 hit, on Islands in the Stream she’s paired perfectly with the country crooner Kenny Rogers on the sweet and smooth track which bubbles along much like its eponymous waterway. The song is also an outlier in Parton’s discography, as it’s one of a handful of trademark songs she didn’t write. (The Bee Gees, Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb, are credited on this one). Nevertheless, the combination of all five unique personalities turned the bouncy track into one of the best duets of all time and a bona fide karaoke staple.
In addition to Islands in the Stream, Here You Come Again is another rare track Parton didn’t pen. Here You Come Again, her first gold record, was penned by Brill Building legends Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, with the buoyant ditty sounding like such a surefire hit to Parton, she was reluctant to record it. “She said a monkey could sing this song and have a hit with it,” her manager Sandy Gallin said in 2016. “And she was very nervous that it would turn off the country market, which she was very loyal to. There was no way she wanted to ever let anything insinuate that she may be turning her back on the country audience.” Parton need not have worried: country fans embraced the tune so much that it lodged five weeks at No 1 on the country charts, later winning a Grammy.
Deftly mixing Parton’s country twang with the panache of pop, further evidence of Parton’s crossover success between the two genres can be heard on Two Doors Down, which continues Jolene’s themes of loneliness. Lyrically, she portrayed an isolated woman whose lover is having a brouhaha right down the hall. Oddly enough, as Parton told Kelly Clarkson in 2022 , it was inspired by a diet Parton was on at the time. She and her band were staying at a Howard Johnson’s Motor Lodge. But while her band was feasting on fried clams and having a good ol’ time, Parton sulking in her room, sticking to only consuming liquid protein. “I could hear them all laughing and talking, and I just started singing: two doors down, they’re laughing and drinking and having a party,” she recalled.
Why’d You Come in Here Lookin’ Like That? (1989)
Marking Parton’s 22nd No 1 on the country charts upon its late-80s release, Why’d You Come In Here Lookin’ Like That? is classic Parton, with the energetic track dripping with the attitude and sass she will forever be known for. The first to crack a joke about her appearance (her favorite saying: “It costs a lot of money to look this cheap”), Parton was proudly vain and widely extravagant in her looks, from her fashion, nails and hair. Naturally, she would strike a chord with a song where she flips the narrative, criticizing a fellow gal about her own appearance flaunting “cowboy boots and your painted-on jeans, all decked out like a cowgirl’s dream”. The only thing sharper than Parton’s looks was her tongue.
Most artists slow down, peter out, sell out and offer diminished returns as the decades trudge on. Parton, meanwhile, was roaring on all cylinders into her 70s, with the superstar continually releasing an array of unique new projects. Her last full album was 2023’s Rockstar, a cover album which saw Parton duet with everyone from goddaughter Miley Cyrus to Paul McCartney and Elton John on a fun and silly series of rock’n’roll covers. Parton, however, had to put her own mark on the project, writing a title track that opens up the melodic bacchanal. Starting with a thrashing guitar courtesy Richie Sambora, Rockstar symbolizes her generation-spanning relevance and a passionate devotion to pure creativity.
Perhaps it’s fitting that one of the very last singles Parton released during her eight decades was last spring’s If You Hadn’t Been There, a tearjerker love song to her beloved husband who died the week before. “If you hadn’t been there, where would I be?” Parton lusciously asks in her unmistakable whisper-tone as a piano tickles in the background. The late-career song is a perfect example of Parton’s access to unbridled emotion: as much as she was unafraid to let her hair down, she was also fearlessly vulnerable and emotive. As an artist, that yin and yang is a golden encapsulation of what made her so special. And now, legions of music fans are asking the same question about Dolly herself: if you hadn’t been there, where would we be?
Related: Celebrity tributes pour in for Dolly Parton: ‘a gift to the world’
This report is published with credit to theguardian.com. Full available text from the wire is above. Read on theguardian.com →
Source: theguardian.com · Rob LeDonne. Published 26 Aug 2026, 06:00 am.
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