Dolly Parton has done a lot for charity over the years, and now the country icon has opened up about why giving back means so much to her.
And it’s no secret that we absolutely adore her.
Born in Locust Ridge, she was the fourth child of a whopping twelve.
She’s had min-boggling success.
She has credited a lot of her family members for helping mold her musicality, but particularly Uncle Bill Owens for getting her foot in the door of the industry.
It all began on the small screen.
After landing a coveted spot on The Porter Wagoner Show, she saw her name in lights very quickly.
In 1975 and ’76, the Country Music Association awarded her with Female Country Singer of the Year.
And during this time, she was also working on moving into the pop market in order to further her career.
The album was a smash!
It won a Grammy Award and in the following years, she tucked a couple more of the prestigious accolades under her belt.
But it’s not all about the music …
Her iconic country glam style was recognized all over the world and her distinct million-dollar smile granted her millions of fans.
She’s also a star of the screen.
In the ’80s, Dolly made appearances in films such as Nine to Five, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and Steel Magnolias.
And she’s proven her status over and over again.
Here are some of her most iconic moments throughout her career…
Number one…
Do you remember when she reunited with her 9-5 co-stars? Of course you do, because it’s the same day she made that hilarious vibrator joke on stage.
Dolly congratulated Grace and Frankie for their nomination, and then added this:
“I just hope I’m going to get one of those Grace and Frankie vibrators in my swag bag tonight.” And everyone had the same shocked but amused look on their face. It was pretty funny, to say the least.
But that’s not all.
Now, over the last few years, we’ve heard celebrities speaking out against the treatment of Black people in society, but Dolly Parton took hers to a whole other level.
It was awesome!
This is what she said when the interviewer at Billboard asked her for her opinion on the social movement: “Of course Black lives matter. Do we think our little white asses are the only ones that matter? No!”
Dolly knows what’s up and we love her for it.
And when the New York Times asked Dolly if she liked seeing her fans turn up to her concerts dressed up as her?
Her response was nothing short of heartwarming.
“When I do ‘Jolene’ and I see a bunch of drag queens out there, I start singing ‘Drag Queen, Drag Queen, please don’t take my man!’ I have a huge gay following and I’m proud of them. Sometimes, some of them look more like me than I do.”
Dolly also does great humanitarian work!
The country singer is not just concerned with her own career, as she has been involved in numerous charities to aid children and their own educational ventures.
Including her charity initiative …
It aims to provide children with free books from the day they’re born until they are 5 years old and since it was started, Dolly’s sent over 141 million books to children around the world. Wow.
One of Dolly’s best qualities is her humor.
She’s not afraid to have a little bit of fun whether it be on social media…
And in recent years, Dolly has been amazing.
Dolly made sure she did her bit to help us all throughout the pandemic, donating a whopping million dollars to Vanderbilt University Medical Center to help with scientific research into the virus.
But did you know of all of Dolly’s struggles behind the scenes?
Her first home was a one-room cabin, and she often shared a bed with up to 4 of her siblings.
Tragedy hit young.
Dolly’s younger brother who she cared for, Larry, died just 4 days after his birth.
This hit the singer hard as she was his primary caregiver at just 9-years-old.
She began her career singing country songs but faced opposition from record labels.
Eventually, her success meant Dolly could forge her own creative path.
She didn’t fit into the usual bluegrass box — but that’s been the key to her stardom!
The road was never easy…
In fact, for her first gigs, she was often booed off the stage — which is very hard to imagine now!
Her ongoing collaboration with Porter Wagoner had a rather difficult end.
In fact, she wrote ‘I Will Always Love You’ about the professional breakup but even so, Wagoner went on to sue Dolly for breach of contract.
In the early days of her marriage, she and her husband planned for their family but eventually, Dolly decided to choose her career over a family.
So she’s basically the whole world’s mom, instead.
Dolly faced other personal issues, too.
She claimed in her book that she had an “affair of the heart” in the early eighties.
This was traumatic for Dolly.
She has even made claims that she considered taking her own life during this traumatic time.
Dolly has always faced adversity.
Alongside her brother Larry and musical partner Porter Wagoner, she’s also lost another brother Floyd, plus her niece Tever who died from a drug overdose aged just thirty-six.
But there’s one thing Dolly is truly known for…
Through it all, she’s always given her all when it came to her charitable endeavors.
And now, the country icon has opened up about why philanthropy means so much to her.
“I always want to do things that I can be proud to talk about, things that I believe in,” Parton shared with PEOPLE. “I cannot be a hypocrite and just say I’m going to donate this money for a tax write-off. I’d really like for it to mean something to me — something I can take pride in.”
Parton won the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in 2022, for her huge charitable donations over the years, and the incredible Dollywood Foundation Imagination Library which has helped millions of children access books.
At the time, the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy said in their statement: “With her philanthropy and her artistry, she has empowered and lifted up the citizens of her Tennessee home county as well as millions more around the world.”
Dolly opened up about the reason she set up the library to CNBC back in 2016…
“The Imagination Library came from a very serious place in my heart. My dad and a lot of my relatives that grew up hard too, big families, they couldn’t actually get a chance to go to school, because they had to work.”
She added: “When I decided what I was going to do for a great charity, then I thought well I’m gonna do this: To get books in the hands of children, because if you can learn to read, if you can read, you can self-educate yourself.”
She’s a true inspiration!