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Handout 1 - Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton with parents and some her siblings. (Dolly is in the middle of the picture)

Dolly Parton at age 12. This photo was on the cover of her first single, “Puppy Love,” released in 1957.

Dolly Parton was born in Locust Ridge, Tennessee, a small rural town near Knoxville. Her father was a farmer and she had eleven brothers and sisters.

Dolly appeared on television at age 10, before her family owned one. The day after she graduated from high school, she took a bus to Nashville in pursuit of her dream - to become a professional country singer-songwriter and to perform at the Grand Ole Opry.

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A map of Tennessee, demonstrating Dolly Parton’s journey from her childhood home in Locust Ridge to Nashville

Dolly Parton’s childhood home in Locust Ridge, Tennessee (as seen on the cover of her album,

“My Tennessee Mountain Home”

Ryman Hall, the home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943–1974, was originally built as a

church.