Dolly Parton wrote more than 3000 songs – but we’ve picked her top 10

From her origins as a country singer in the early 1960s before crossing over into pop and bluegrass genres at the end of the ’70s, Dolly Parton, who died overnight on Wednesday (AEST) aged 80 , has an enduring musical legacy.

Even today’s superstars, including Beyoncé, Sabrina Carpenter and goddaughter Miley Cyrus, gush about the honour of duetting with Parton. I may have been born decades after the pinnacle of Parton’s musical reign, but she remains one of the few artists who cut through my generation (those born post 9/11). Her track 9 to 5 inspired me to unionise at McDonald’s as a teenage fry cook – and many girls in high school to play percussion with their acrylic nails.

Parton wrote her first song when she was six years old, the simple story of “Little Tiny Tasseltop” based on a doll her mother made from a corncob. Over her career she composed more than 3000 songs – making it no easy task to rank her top 10.

This heartwarming country melody about a woman who goes to a party just down the hall – or two doors down – to get over a particularly melancholic breakup was released on Parton’s 1977 album Here You Come Again.

She ends up bringing back a “new love” to her place, which, conveniently, is only two doors down! Parton puts the saying that to get over someone you should get under someone, to a country-pop bop.

The song that earned Parton her first Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and namesake of her 19th studio album, Here You Come Again, went on to be her first million-selling record.

About feeling as though she’s finally over a man until she looks into his eyes and sees his smile, the country-pop song was one of Parton’s most prolific at a time she began mixing country and pop genres.

A bittersweet country-pop melody about a lingering love – and wondering if your ex still thinks about you – fills you with a sense of nostalgia. Parton’s giggles and the playful back-and-forth with guitarist Atkins makes the tune so tender. “I love you,” she says at the end.

Released on her 1982 album Heartbreak Express alongside another hit, I Will Always Love You.

Country-folk at Parton’s finest, the song is a tribute to her childhood being raised in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. Honeysuckles, June bugs, front porches, eagles, Sunday mass and crickets singing in nearby fields. A song made during her country era, it’s warm and fuzzy. “Life is as peaceful as a baby’s sigh,” Parton sings.

Whenever you feel down, and you’ve got the blues, there is a guaranteed Parton song to lift your spirits and give you an aural pat on the back. This ballad turned upbeat pop track was the opening song on her New Harvest ... First Gathering album . According to Rolling Stone , Parton refers to this hit as “my song of deliverance” after walking out of her former professional partner Porter Wagoner’s office and driving home in a storm before the sky opened, shining golden rays on her.

Now we’re entering the territory of Parton’s biggest hits. Named as Country Music Television’s number one country duet of all time in 2005, the enchanting classic brought together two solo artists at the peak of their careers.