Dolly Parton's life in her own words: from Smoky Mountains poverty to country music immortality
Country music icon Dolly Parton died peacefully in Nashville on Tuesday at 80 years old.
Parton's team shared a statement with Fox News Digital on Tuesday night and confirmed that she died after a "brief battle with cancer." Parton's death sparked mourning across the world.
Parton’s catalog included enduring hits such as "Jolene," "Coat of Many Colors," "Here You Come Again," "9 to 5" and "I Will Always Love You." The latter song became a global phenomenon again when Whitney Houston recorded it for 1992’s "The Bodyguard." Throughout the span of her career, which ignited as a performer on "The Porter Wagoner Show," Parton always shared what mattered most to her – her Tennessee upbringing, her faith, her beloved husband, Carl Dean, and family.
Below is a look at Parton's life, in her own words, over the years.
DOLLY PARTON DEAD AT 80 Born in 1946 in rural Sevier County, Tennessee, Parton grew up in a large, poor family in the Smoky Mountains.
She began singing in church as a child and started writing songs at a young age.
In 2015, Parton told Entertainment Tonight that her upbringing shaped who she became in her adult years.
"I think my childhood made me everything I am today.
I would trade nothing for being brought up in the Great Smoky Mountains.
I’ve never been ashamed of my people no matter how poor or dirty we might have been," she said at the time.
Parton added, "I’ve always loved being from where I am, and having the folks that I’ve had." During an interview with Rolling Stone in January, Parton shed a little more light on her poor childhood and said that her mother would make her clothes out of "feed sacks or scraps." "We didn’t have anything.
Mama used to sew all of our quilts and curtains for the windows, remake our clothes, and make clothes out of feed sacks or scraps," she said.
Parton was one of 12 children.
Her parents were Robert Lee Parton Sr., known as Lee, a sharecropper and construction worker, and Avie Lee Caroline Parton, who raised their family.
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