Dolly Parton may be 75-years-old but rare footage of the start of her music career when she was just 14-years-old has surfaced.
The 60-year-old video was found by archivist Bradley Reeves, who shared the video with WBIR 10 News. The footage displays the young Eastern Tennessee native singing and playing the guitar for a crowd in Knoxville.
Young Dolly Parton rocks a green and white dress, and although the clip is silent (yeah, sorry. it wasn’t exactly the technology we have in 2021), the young beauty screams star power. However, there are other clips around the same time that capture Dolly Parton’s angelic voice.
Dolly Parton’s Career
Dolly Parton grew up as the fourth of twelve children to a low-income family in Locust Ridge, Tennessee. While many members of Parton’s family inspired Dolly’s career, she gives the bulk of the credit to her Uncle Bill Owens.
The day after Dolly Parton graduated from high school, she decided to pursue her music career full time. She packed her bags and moved to the Music City of Nashville. Originally starting out as a songwriter, but by 1966, Parton got her chance to record country music, with her first charting song, “Dumb Blonde.”
Although Dolly has composed over 3,000 songs, her most famous include “I Will Always Love You,” “Jolene,” “9 to 5,” and “Coat of Many Colors.”
She first got her big break while on “The Cas Walker Farm and Home Hour” in Knoxville. The debut eventually pushed the artist onto the “The Porter Wagoner Show.” The show was a hit, and Dolly was all but royalty.
Today, Dolly Parton is the highest-grossing country artist of all time, with a net worth of over $500 million. She is also part of the exclusive group with “at least one nomination for all four major annual American entertainment award organizations; Emmy, GRAMMY, Oscar, and Tony.”
In addition, the U.S. Library of Congress awarded Parton with the Living Legend Award in 2004.
The Record Industry Association of America reports that Parton has 25 singles or albums released as either Gold Record, Platinum Record, or Multi-Platinum Record. She also has had 26 songs hit number one on the Billboard country charts.
