Performer, actor, philanthropist, theme park namesake, media mogul, rockstar and all-around cultural icon -- Dolly Parton has done it all. But in between becoming an inspiration to countless aspiring artists, gifting over 200 million books to kids and honoring her Tennessee roots with a business empire, the country queen has been writing songs -- over 3,000 of them in fact. Over her 50+ year career, the Smoky Mountain dynamo has written some of the most cherished tunes in country music history. She famously penned "Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You," two of the most cherished songs in popular culture, in the same day -- or at the very least in the same timeframe.
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"It was right in that period of time because I remember all my paperwork, and like they came out pretty close at the same time," Parton said on The Bobby Bones Show of her 1972 songwriting streak. "So everybody said, 'What was you taking? That was a good writing day.'"
Her songs run the gamut of love, loss, faith, family, dreams and home. Even on songs she didn't write, Parton sings with such sincerity that you can't imagine them coming from anyone else.
In honor of Parton's rock era, culminating with the release of her 30-track labor of love Rockstar (out Nov. 17), which finds her collaborating with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Elton John, Sting, Pat Benetar, Stevie Nicks, Sheryl Crow, Emmylou Harris, Lizzo and many more, we've rounded up the best of the best from the queen of the Tennessee mountains. Here are the 25 best Dolly Parton songs, ranked.
25. "More Where That Came From" (Slow Dancing With the Moon, 1993)
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A gem from Parton's 1993 album Slow Dancing With the Moon, "More Where That Came From" is a barn-burner of a love song that finds her weaving down-home sentiment with a cajun beat.
24. "Heartbreaker" (Heartbreaker, 1978)
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Recorded for her 1978 album of the same name, "Heartbreaker," penned by Carole Bayer Sager and David Wolfert and co-produced by Parton, is torch-song Dolly at her best.
23. "Eagle When She Flies" (Eagle When She Flies, 1991)
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Parton delivered an empowerment anthem to stand the test of time with "Eagle When She Flies," featured on her 1991 album of the same name. Written by Parton and Ray Bunch, the song extols both the vulnerability and strength of women. The song saw renewed attention when Parton performed the song with The Highwomen at the 2019 Newport Folk Festival.
22. "Down From Dover" (The Fairest of Them All, 1970)
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Featured on 1970's The Fairest of Them All, the chilling "Down From Dover" centers on a woman who gets pregnant out of wedlock. Shamed by her parents and in deep denial that the father of her baby has left her, the song's narrator shares one of Parton's most devastating tales.
"We rode past Dover, Tennessee, and my mind started going," Parton said of writing the song in her book Songteller: My Life in Lyrics. (quote from Showbiz Cheatsheet) "It was a beautiful day, and the wind was blowing. There was this field of clover waving in the wind. So there we were, Dover-clover, and that started me off: 'The sun behind a cloud just cast a crawling shadow o'er the fields of clover. And time is running out for me. I wish that he would hurry down from Dover.'"
21."Light of a Clear Blue Morning" (New Harvest...First Gathering, 1977)
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Parton famously wrote "I Will Always Love You" for Porter Wagoner. She performed the song for Wagoner as a goodbye to her mentor. But it wasn't the only song her tenuous relationship with Wagoner inspired. "Light of a Clear Blue Morning," featured on 1977's New Harvest...First Gathering, was written about her new journey after leaving The Porter Wagoner Show.
"As I left his office and began to drive toward my home out in Brentwood, it began to rain, so did I. I cried. Not so much out of a sense of loss, but from the pain that almost always comes with change. It has a sad kind of freedom," she wrote in her 1994 autobiography. "Then I began to sing a song to myself. 'It's been a long dark night, and I've been waiting for the morning. It's been a long hard fight, but I see a brand new day dawning. I been looking for the sunshine. I ain't seen it in so long. Everything's going to work out just fine. Everything's going to be all right, that's been all wrong. I can see the light of a clear blue morning.'"
20. "Wildflowers" (with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt) (Trio, 1987)
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Longtime friends Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris formed a supergroup in 1987, recording the massively successful album Trio. Featured on the beloved project is "Wildflowers," an anthem for dreamers and wanderers that reflects Parton's own story.
19. "Love is Like a Butterfly" (Love is Like a Butterfly, 1974)
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The breezy "Love is Like a Butterfly" captures the "soft and gentle" and euphoric feeling of falling in love. The song was used as the opening tune for Parton's 1976 variety show Dolly!
18. "Two Doors Down" (Here You Come Again, 1977)
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Parton goes disco on the late '70s groover "Two Doors Down," which finds a lonely woman debating over whether to attend a party down the hall. (An anthem for introverts everywhere.) She ends up going and meeting a man and, by the end of the song, the two are having a party of their own. Parton later recorded the song with Macy Gray for the 2018 Dumplin' soundtrack.
17. "Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You" (Dolly Dolly Dolly, 1980)
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Penned by Pebe Sebert, the mother of pop superstar Kesha, and Hugh Moffatt, was recorded by Parton for her 1980 album Dolly Dolly Dolly. The song came full circle in 2017 when Parton was featured on Kesha's version of the tune for 2017's Rainbow.
16. "Applejack" (New Harvest...First Gathering, 1977)
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"Applejack," a tune about a young woman who develops a friendship with a musician who lived in "this little old orchard shack," is a prime example of Parton's Appalachian storytelling.
15. "Dumb Blonde" (Hello, I'm Dolly, 1967)
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This 1967 country hit was written by songwriter Curly Putnam, but it perfectly summed up the suffer-no-fools persona that would make the whole world fall in love with Dolly. "Just because I'm blonde don't think I'm dumb 'cause this dumb blonde ain't nobody's fool," she sang, letting everyone know that underestimating Dolly Parton would be the most foolish thing of all. Women everywhere love the way she challenged the "dumb blonde" persona, acting as a true champion for women throughout her career.
14. "To Daddy"
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This 1977 country song was written from the perspective of a daughter looking back on her parents' marriage. It became a No. 3 hit for Emmylou Harris, who recorded it for her album Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town. This wasn't the first time Parton wrote a hit song for someone else. Parton's "Down From Dover" was recorded by Nancy Sinatra and Merle Haggard scored a No. 1 with "Kentucky Gambler" in 1975. Of course, several years later she'd have her biggest hit with Whitney Houston's recording of "I Will Always Love You."
13. "Islands in the Stream" (Greatest Hits, 1982)
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This Bee Gees-penned duet with Kenny Rogers features one of Parton's most memorable vocal performances. The song was a worldwide smash, hitting the top of the U.S. Billboard Country charts in 1983.
12. "The Last Thing On My Mind" (with Porter Wagoner) (Just Between You and Me, 1968)
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Dolly Parton has had such a long career, it's easy to forget that her early years in Music City singing on The Porter Wagoner Show led to some of her best work. Wagoner and Parton's 1967 duet "The Last Thing On My Mind," written by Tom Paxton, went to No. 6 on the country chart. Dolly and Porter would go on to have a string of top 10 hits for RCA over the next six years with songs like "If Teardrops Were Pennies" and "Just Between You and Me."
11. "My Tennessee Mountain Home" (My Tennessee Mountain Home, 1973)
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The Smoky Mountains were possibly the greatest muse for the Sevierville, Tenn. native. She once wrote a song about Robert F. Thomas, the mountain doctor who delivered her. She penned "Tennessee Homesick Blues" for the film Rhinestone. But perhaps her greatest ode to the region is 1973's "My Tennessee Mountain Home," inspired by her life growing up as a little girl in the Tennessee mountains.
10. "Just Because I'm a Woman" (Just Because I'm a Woman, 1968)
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"Just Because I'm a Woman," a stand against sexist double standards, proved that Parton wasn't afraid to push boundaries even in 1968. The way she sings this song makes it an anthem for women everywhere.
9. "The Bargain Store" (The Bargain Store, 1975)
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"The Bargain Store," written and recorded by Parton for her 1975 album of the same name, uses secondhand goods as a metaphor for the narrator's broken heart. The almost-eerie arrangement captured the agony of loneliness in a way that only Dolly can.
8. "The Grass is Blue" (The Grass is Blue, 1999)
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"The Grass is Blue," from Parton's 1999 bluegrass album of the same name, further proved that no one could write about heartbreak and desperation quite like her. The album helped boost Parton's career and, along with the O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack, brought bluegrass to mainstream audiences.
7. "Joshua" (Joshua, 1971)
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Parton's 1971 hit "Joshua" became her first single to hit No. 1 on the country charts. Parton mined her Appalachian roots once again for this hard-driving jam about a Tennessee woman and a burly mountain man.
6. "9 to 5" (9 to 5 and Odd Jobs, 1980)
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Hollywood came calling for Dolly in the '70s and '80s. For the classic 1980 comedy 9 to 5, Parton penned the ultimate ode to overworked and underpaid women, giving a voice to the growing movement of women who demanded equal pay for equal work.
5. "Why'd You Come In Here Lookin' Like That" (White Limozeen, 1989)
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The irresistible "Why'd You Come In Here Lookin' Like That" from Parton's 1989 album White Limozeen follows a woman who just can't help pining for a no-good cowboy in "painted on jeans." Produced by Ricky Skaggs, the song is Parton at her best.
4. "Here You Come Again" (Here You Come Again, 1977)
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"Here You Come Again," written by Barry Man and Cynthia Weil, was Parton's first huge crossover hit. The song would lead to further success on the pop charts and won Parton a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal in 1979.
3. "Coat of Many Colors" (Coat of Many Colors, 1971)
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"My coat of many colors that my mama made for me/made only from rags but I wore it so proudly," Parton sings in this heart-wrenching story song about Parton's own upbringing as a poor girl in Tennessee. It's one of the best songs she's ever written and showcases the soul-baring lyrics that made her a country music icon. It's also inspired a pair of TV movies.
2. "I Will Always Love You" (Jolene, 1974)
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Widely considered one of the best love songs ever written, "I Will Always Love You" captures the pain of loving someone you can't be with. Written as a goodbye to her mentor and frequent singing partner Porter Wagoner, the song has taken on a life of its own. Dolly Parton scored a No. 1 hit with the song twice and entered the top 20 with the track yet again in 1995 as a duet with Vince Gill. The song was also on the soundtrack for one of Parton's films, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. In 1992, Whitney Houston famously recorded the song for The Bodyguard soundtrack, taking it to the top of the pop charts for 14 weeks.
1. "Jolene" (Jolene, 1974)
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Perhaps no Dolly Parton song has inspired as much fervor as "Jolene." The tune about a woman-to-woman conversation captures the pain of jealousy as the narrator begs the gorgeous Jolene not to take her man. Parton says the song has been covered more than any other she's written. And with good reason. There isn't a soul alive who hasn't felt what Dolly sings of in the song.
Editor's Note: This story was previously published on Jan. 17, 2020. It was updated on Nov. 17, 2023.
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