NathanJolene! Jolene! Jolene!
Even though ‘Coat of Many Colors’ has been dubbed as Parton’s signature song, it peaked at number 4. During the 70s, her biggest hit ever was finally released. Jolene was the number one country song and even made its crossing the Atlantic in the UK. Written by Parton, ‘Jolene’ is considered to be one of the greatest songs of all time by Rolling Stone magazine.
Back to Pop
Even though her attempts to building a career in pop music went down south, Parton dusted herself off and tried again in the late 70s. She started working with Sandy Gallin, who eventually became her personal manager for the next quarter of a century. ‘While All I Can Do Was’ and ‘New Harvest…First Gathering’, were more pop-driven but did not make too much impact…
Once Again
As she went ahead in attempting to please a more mainstream audience, Dolly released ‘Here You Come Again’, selling a million copies, topped the country charts, and hit number 20 on the pop charts too. There was, even more, waiting for Dolly. This may be a rare song among Parton’s most successful songs, maybe because written for her by Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann. So which song is it?
The Awards!
During the late 80s that Parton started to really gain success, in the level we see her today. Releasing a new album ‘Trio’ that went to stay five-week stay at the top of the country charts. It also won one Grammy award and was nominated for one more. In the year 1999, Dolly was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, then she won more Grammy-awards using her Bluegrass style.
We Will Always Love Her!
As she started songwriting as a career initially, Dolly had a few songs for herself, so it does not come to us a surprise that Parton’s music has been covered by others. We cannot forget the late great Whitney Houston’s version of ‘I Will Always Love You’ for her movie ‘The Bodyguard’? Kenny Rogers has covered a Dolly song in his album ‘Vote for Love’, while LeAnn Rimes sang her version of ‘Unchained Melody’ in ‘The Early Years’ album.
The Oscars!
Dolly has won several music awards and was also nominated for Academy Awards. Her song ‘9 to 5’ was the soundtrack for the movie where she acted too. Parton starred alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. Dolly also got a nomination for an Oscar for ‘Travelin’ Thru’, from the movie ‘Transamerica’, which is about a transgender mom and her son’s road trip.