Dolly-Parton

Born on Jan. 19th of 1946, in Locust Ridge Tenn into a low-income family that would ultimately include 12 children Dolly Parton learned early to get away from the struggles of life through her vivid and expansive imagination. Before she was able to write and read, she was making up her own songs. Once she had her first guitar at age of eight, she started performing at radio stations in Knoxville in Tennessee. Gold Band Records is a tiny, independent label. Although she became a local star while in high school, her dreams were greater. She moved to Nashville the day after graduating in 1964. Dumb Blonde (both 1967) as well as Something Fishy were among her first Monument Records chart-topping records. In the year 1967, Porter Wagoner was looking for an actress to sing for the show he had syndicated to television. Parton was offered the gig in 1967 and signed to RCA Records in 1968 and became a member of with the Grand Ole Opry in 1969. It was not until 1974 when she made the decision to quit Wagoner's show because the success of her solo albums including Joshua Coat, Many Colors and Jolene exceeded their collective efforts. Parton composed "I I Will Never Forget You" to Wagoner soon after their split. It hit the top spot at No. 1. for the first time in 1974.