Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She is known for her decades-long career in country music. Recently her family is a topic of interest among fans. They want to know who is in her family and in this post you will get all the information related to her family.
Who is Dolly Parton’s Parents?
Dolly Rebecca Parton was born January 19, 1946, in a one-room cabin on the banks of the Little Pigeon River in Pittman Center, Tennessee. Avie Lee Caroline and Robert Lee Parton Sr. are her parents.
Robert Lee was born on March 22, 1921, in Sevierville, Tennessee and Avie Lee was born on Oct. 5, 1923, in Lockhart, South Carolina. They got married in 1939 when Lee was 17 and Avie Lee was 15. Avie was a stay-at-home mom and Robert Lee was a sharecropper who occasionally took up construction work to supplement his income.
Dolly began teaching herself how to play a homemade guitar at the age of seven. At ten, she gave her first public concerts on a small radio station in Knoxville. Dolly told:
“I grew up in a very musical family, all my mother’s people were very musical, so I was always around people playing instruments and singing, and my mom singing the old songs, So that was just part of my being and I just knew I loved it. I just continued doing that, it was just a natural thing.”
Dolly has made over her lengthy career, her most proud achievement is the Imagination Library, a non-profit organization she founded in 1995 to aid young children in learning to read. She started it as a tribute to her late father, Lee. She said:
“My dad was not able to read and write — he was a country boy with a bunch of kids, and he had to work instead of going to school when he was a little boy, and so he never had the chance to get an education, It seemed to really bother him a lot and I thought, ‘Well, what can I do for my precious dad?’ ‘Cause he was the greatest daddy in the world and one of the smartest people I’d ever known.”
Dolly explained:
“So I said, ‘Dad, why don’t we put together a little program where we give children books from the time they’re born, once a month, until they start school?’ That way, they can learn to read, love books. If you can read, you can kinda self-educate.”
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How Many Siblings Does Dolly Parton Have?
Dolly Parton is the fourth of twelve children born to Avie Lee Caroline and Robert Lee Parton Sr. She has six brothers and five sisters. Parents Robert and Avie Lee Parton reared the siblings in a three-bedroom cabin in Sevierville, Tennessee, close to the Smoky Mountains.
The fourteen-member family didn’t have much, but they did have one another and music. The six brothers and five sisters of Dolly Parton are covered in detail here.
Willadeene Parton
On March 24, 1940, Robert and Avie welcomed their first child, a daughter named Willadeene. Since Willadeene was the oldest of the Parton children, her younger siblings frequently looked up to her as a mother figure. Willadeene initially dabbled with music, joining a gospel group with some of her sisters, but ultimately realized that storytelling was her true calling.
Her first book, Smoky Mountain Memories: Stories from the Hearts of the Parton Family, a memoir about her family was published in 1996. She published the cookbook All-Day Singing & Dinner on the Ground the following year, in 1997 with dishes influenced by her childhood in Tennessee. She has now moved to Tennessee, settled down and stayed out of the spotlight.
Stella Parton
On May 4, 1949, Stella was born in Sevierville, Tennessee. Stella started a career in the music industry, just like her sister Dolly. When her debut album, I Want to Hold You in My Dreams Tonight, was released in 1975, her career took off.
Stella has released more than 36 albums to date. She also acted in the 2015 Dolly picture Coat of Many Colors. Stella was inspired to write her own memoir by Willadeene. Tell It Sister, Tell It: Memories, Music and Miracles was the title of the 2011 release.
Stella Parton’s Country Cookin’ and State Fairs and Church Bazaars are two of the three cookbooks she authored. She participated in the British TV competition Celebrity MasterChef in 2018.
Cassie Parton
On February 12, 1951, Cassie was born. She began singing at a young age and joined her sisters in a gospel group. She did, however, make a vocal appearance in her sister’s 2013 performance My People: Dolly’s Letter Home, even though her professional music career ended there.
Cassie has taken a step back from the spotlight since her days on stage. Regarding her private life, she is married to Larry Seaver and has two children: Rebecca Ann Seaver and Bryan Melvin Seaver.
Randy Parton
Randy Parton was the eighth of the twelve Parton siblings, having been born on December 15, 1953, close to the family’s Sevierville, Tennessee, home. Similar to his well-known elder sister, Randy enjoyed a highly successful music career.
He produced successful songs including “Hold Me Like You Never Had Me” and “Shot Full of Love,” which peaked at number one on the charts after having his own performance at Dollywood in 1986. He even sang a duet called “Old Flames Can’t Hold a Candle to You” with Dolly.
The well-known singer-songwriter passed away in January 2021 at the age of 67. On Facebook, Dolly shared the tragic news that her brother “has lost his battle with cancer.”
Larry Parton
In July 1955, “Larry”, Avie and Robert’s ninth child, passed away four days after his birth. Dolly’s 2015 film Coat of Many Colors, which is also inspired by the country music artist’s 1971 hit of the same name, explores his death.
Floyd Parton
On June 1, 1957, Floyd was born in Sevierville, Tennessee. He had considerable success in music just like a number of his siblings and he even collaborated with sister Dolly. The pair co-wrote the No. 1 hits on the charts “Nickels and Dimes” from Dolly’s Heartbreaker album and the 1991 duet “Rockin’ Years” with Ricky Van Shelton.
Floyd, who was referred to as “a renaissance man” and had a strong love of nature, passed away in December 2018 at the age of 61. At the private burial event, Dolly sang a song in honor of her younger brother and longtime songwriting collaborator.
Freida Parton
Freida, Floyd’s twin sister was also born in Sevierville, Tennessee, on June 1, 1957. Freida was a punk band member in her youth, which was very different from her family’s rural upbringing. Still, she did occasionally sing backup vocals on Dolly’s records.
Freida was ordained as a minister in 2014. In her hometown of Sevierville, she opened Parton Family Wedding Chapel & Antiques, a combined chapel and antique shop.
Rachel Parton
Rachel Parton, the youngest of the Parton siblings was born in Sevierville, Tennessee, on August 31, 1959. When the band Honey Creek was first formed, Rachel and her late brother Randy were among the main vocalists.
Eventually, she made the move into acting and her most well-known performance was in the ABC comedy 9 to 5, which was inspired by Dolly’s movie of the same name. Under the name Doralee, Rachel played a dramatized version of herself in the 1982–1988 television series.
David Parton, Coy Parton and Robert Lee Parton Jr.
In contrast to their well-known sisters, brothers David, Coy and Robert Lee all enjoy extremely quiet lives away from the public eye. Dolly’s older brothers are David and Coy, born in 1942 and 1943, respectively. Her younger brother was born in 1948.
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