PEOPLE Dolly at 75!

By Meredith Corporation

For her admirers, Dolly Parton, who has appeared on PEOPLE's cover six times, has poured her heart into everything she does, not least the autobiographical songs she writes like I Will Always Love You and her aching tribute to her mother Coat of Many Colors. Generous as an artist and humanitarian, she even helped finance breakthrough research that produced the Moderna vaccination for COVID-19. In this special edition 'Dolly Parton at 75,' it's PEOPLE's turn to pay heartfelt tribute to a classic American entertainer. Inside is a revealing exclusive interview (I've always been a great lover because I just feel my sensuality, my sexuality, my passion, Parton says), a conversation with her longtime stylist about putting together the iconic Dolly look and an excerpt from 'Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics.' Happy 75th, Dolly, many happy returns.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Meredith Corporation
• Release date: Jan 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781547855094

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LIFE IN PICTUREs

BACK THROUGH THE YEARS

HIGHLIGHTS AND MEMORABLE MOMENTS FROM DOLLY PARTON’S SPECTACULAR CAREER, FROM NASHVILLE TO HOLLYWOOD AND TODAY

SHOWSTOPPER A dynamic singer, songwriter, performer—and startling beauty—newcomer Parton (in Nashville in 1978) took the country music world by storm.

HEARTLAND I long to always stay attached to my home, my family, said Parton (at top left in this 1950s photo of her siblings and parents, Avie and Lee Parton, at home in Tennessee).

STEADY FRIEND For Parton (in 1978), a lifelong love of horses may have begun at birth: The doctor who delivered her at home in 1946 arrived on horseback.

FREEWHEELIN’ When Parton began her professional career on regional radio at age 10, her uncle Bill Owens ferried her back and forth to Knoxville. My old car, I just about wore it out, he said.

SOFT SPOT Well on her way to pop stardom in 1978, Parton cuddled a photographer’s kitten during a photo shoot.

THE DOLLY SHOW Parton brought her 1987 TV show Dolly to the Sevier County, Tenn., courthouse, where a bronze statue of the singer was unveiled that year.

HAPPY TOGETHER It was the first marriage for both of us—and the last, Parton said of her husband, Carl Dean (in the mid-1980s). They celebrated their 54th anniversary in 2020.

ALL DOLLYED UP I just say that I have 365 wigs, one for each day of the year, but I don’t know, Parton (getting ready for a show in Nashville in 1978) told country radio deejay Ralph Emery. They are cheap wigs! I ain’t kiddin’. The way I get ’em, they’re like $30 a wig.

I’M NOT OFFENDED BY ALL OF THE DUMB-BLONDE JOKES BECAUSE I KNOW I’M NOT DUMB . . . AND I ALSO KNOW THAT I’M NOT BLONDE

—DOLLY PARTON

YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! A Beatles fan since high school, Parton (with Porter Wagoner) greeted Paul McCartney, wife Linda and daughters Heather, 11, and Stella, 4, at a 1974 concert in Nashville, where McCartney’s band Wings rehearsed for a U.S. tour.

STUDIO 54 I wasn’t a party dog, Parton said of nights on the town with Andy Warhol (ca. 1978). I enjoyed watching all of the craziness. I guess Andy and I were comparing wigs.

STARSTRUCK This was when I first had a cult following, Parton said of celebrity admirers like Mick Jagger, who fell under her spell backstage at New York’s Bottom Line after her show in 1977.

‘ISLANDS IN THE STREAM’ My heart’s broken, and a big ol’ chunk of it has gone with him, Parton said in tribute to her beloved duet partner Kenny Rogers (here, in 1983) on his death in 2020.

SUPERNOVA Thirty-four years after her Walk of Fame star was unveiled, Parton (with the honorary mayor of Hollywood Johnny Grant in 1984) received a second star in 2018. I always like to do things in pairs, if you know what I mean, she quipped.

DOLLY GOES TO WASHINGTON Serenaded by Carrie Underwood, Kenny Rogers, Alison Krauss, Shania Twain and Vince Gill, who sang I Will Always Love You, Parton was a Kennedy Center honoree in 2006.

YOU NEVER HEAR, ‘I WONDER IF THAT’S DOLLY PARTON,’ BECAUSE THERE’S NO DOUBT

—STEVE BUCKINGHAM, DOLLY’S RECORD PRODUCER

9 TO 5 EQUALS THREE "I have been waiting for a 9 to 5 reunion ever since we did the first one," Parton said when she and costars Lily Tomlin (left) and Jane Fonda appeared as presenters at the 2017 Emmy Awards in Los Angeles.

"I’D NEVER EVEN SEEN A