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It's difficult to find a country performer who has moved from her country roots to international fame more successfully than Dolly Parton. Her autobiographical single "Coat of Many Colors" reveals the poverty of growing up one of 12 children on a rundown farm in Locust Ridge, Tennessee. At the age of 12, she was appearing on Knoxville television; at 13, she was recording on a small label and appearing on the Grand Ole Opry. Her 1967 hit "Dumb Blonde" (which she's not) caught Porter Wagoner's ear, and he hired Parton to appear on his television show, where their duet numbers became famous. By the time her song "Joshua" reached number one in 1970, Parton's fame had overshadowed her boss' and she struck out on her own. During the mid-'70s, she established herself as a country superstar, and crossed over into the pop mainstream in the early '80s when she smoothed out the rough edges in her music and began singing pop as well as country. At the same time, she also began appearing in movies, most notably the hit 9 to 5. Over the ensuing decades, Parton maintained mainstream stardom, balancing records and stage shows with film, books, and other multimedia projects, alongside charitable activities. When country radio turned away from veterans, she started to regularly record albums that reconnected with her bluegrass and country roots, occasionally returning to country-pop and also seizing the opportunity to expand her purview, as she did on Rockstar, a sprawling, guest-laden 2023 double-album recorded to commemorate her 2022 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

The fourth of 12 children, Parton was born and raised in Pittman Center, Tennessee, just next to the Smoky Mountains National Forest. Parton's family struggled to survive throughout her childhood, and she was often ridiculed for her poverty, yet music soothed their worries. Though her farming father did not play, her half-Cherokee mother played guitar and her grandfather, Rev. Jake Owens, was a fiddler and songwriter (his "Singing His Praise" was recorded by Kitty Wells). When she was seven, her uncle Bill Owens gave her a guitar, and within three years, she became a regular on WIVK Knoxville's The Cas Walker Farm and Home Hour. Over the next two years, her career steadily flourished, and in 1959 she made her debut on the Grand Ole Opry; the following year, she recorded her first single, "Puppy Love," for Goldband.

When she was 14 years old, Parton signed to Mercury Records, but her 1962 debut for the label, "It's Sure Gonna Hurt," was a bomb, and the label immediately dropped her. Over the next five years, she shopped for a new contract and did indeed record a number of songs, which were later reissued on budget-line records. She continued to attend high school, playing snare drum in the marching band. After she graduated, she moved to Nashville, where she stayed with Bill Owens. Both songwriters pitched songs across Nashville with no success, and Parton began singing on demos. Early in 1965, both Parton and Owens finally found work when Fred Foster signed them to his publishing house, Combine Music; Foster subsequently signed her to Monument Records. Parton's first records for Monument were marketed to pop audiences, and her second record, "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby," nearly made the charts. In 1966, Bill Phillips took two of Parton's and Owens' songs -- "Put It Off Until Tomorrow" and "The Company You Keep" -- to the Top Ten, setting the stage for Parton's breakthrough single "Dumb Blonde." Released early in 1967, the record climbed to number 24, followed shortly afterward by the number 17 "Something Fishy."

The two hit Monument singles attracted the attention of country star Porter Wagoner, who was looking to hire a new female singer for his syndicated television show. Parton accepted the offer and began appearing on the show on September 5, 1967. Initially, Wagoner's audience was slow to warm to Parton and chanted for Norma Jean, the singer she replaced, but with Wagoner's assistance, she was soon accepted. Wagoner also convinced his label, RCA, to sign Parton. Since female performers were not particularly popular in the late '60s, the label decided to protect their investment by releasing her first single as a duet with Wagoner. "The Last Thing on My Mind" reached the country Top Ten early in 1968, launching a six-year streak of virtually uninterrupted Top Ten singles. Parton's first solo single, "Just Because I'm a Woman," was released in the summer of 1968 and was a moderate hit, reaching number 17. For the remainder of the decade, none of her solo efforts -- even "In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)," which would later become a standard -- were as successful as her duets. The duo was named Vocal Group of the Year in 1968 by the Country Music Association, but Parton's solo records were continually ignored. Wagoner and Parton were both frustrated by her lack of solo success, Porter because he had a significant financial stake in her future; as of 1969, he was her co-producer and owned nearly half of the publishing company Owepar.

In 1970, Porter had her sing Jimmie Rodgers' "Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel No. 8)," a gimmick that worked. The record shot to number three on the charts, followed closely by her first number one single, "Joshua." For the next two years, she had a number of solo hits -- including her signature song "Coat of Many Colors" (number four, 1971) -- in addition to her duets. Though she had successful singles, none of them were blockbusters until "Jolene" reached number one in early 1974. Parton stopped traveling with Wagoner after its release, but continued to appear on television and sing duets with him until 1976.

Once she left Wagoner, Parton's records became more eclectic and diverse, ranging from the ballad "I Will Always Love You" (number one, 1974) and the racy "The Bargain Store" (number one, 1975) to the crossover pop of "Here You Come Again" (number one, 1977) and the disco experiment of "Baby I'm Burning" (number 25 pop, 1978). From 1974 to 1980, she consistently charted in the country Top Ten, with no less than eight singles reaching number one. Parton had her own syndicated television show, Dolly, in 1976, and by the next year had gained the right to produce her own albums, which immediately resulted in diverse efforts like 1977's New Harvest...First Gathering. In addition to her own hits during the late '70s, many artists, from Rose Maddox and Kitty Wells to Olivia Newton-John, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt, covered her songs, and her siblings Randy and Stella received recording contracts of their own.

Though she was quite popular, Parton became a genuine superstar in 1977, when the Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil song "Here You Come Again" became a huge crossover hit, reaching number three on the pop charts, spending five weeks at the top of the country charts, and going gold. Its accompanying album went platinum and the follow-up, Heartbreaker, went gold. Soon she was on the cover of country and mainstream publications alike. With the new financial windfall, a lawsuit against Wagoner -- he had received a significant portion of her royalties -- ensued. By the time it was settled, she regained her copyrights while Wagoner was given a nominal fee and the studio the duo shared. In the wake of the lawsuit, a delayed duet album, Making Plans, appeared in 1980; its title track hit number two on the country charts.

Parton's commercial success continued to grow during 1980, as she had three number one hits in a row: the Donna Summer-written "Starting Over Again," "Old Flames (Can't Hold a Candle to You)," and "9 to 5." The latter was the theme song to Parton's acting debut, 9 to 5. Also starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, the movie became a huge success, establishing Parton as a movie star. The song became her first number one pop single as well. 9 to 5 gave Parton's career momentum that lasted throughout the early '80s. She began appearing in more films, including the Burt Reynolds musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) and the Sylvester Stallone comedy Rhinestone (1984). Parton's singles continued to appear consistently in the country Top Ten: between 1981 and 1985, she had 12 Top Ten hits and half of those were number one singles. Parton continued to make inroads on the pop charts as well with a re-recorded version of "I Will Always Love You" from The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas scraping the Top 50 and her Kenny Rogers duet "Islands in the Stream" (which was written by the Bee Gees and produced by Barry Gibb) spending two weeks at number one.

However, by 1985 many old-time fans felt that Parton was spending too much time courting the mainstream. Most of her albums were dominated by the adult contemporary pop of songs like "Islands in the Stream," and it had been years since she had sung straightforward country. She continued to explore new business and entertainment ventures such as her Dollywood theme park, which opened in 1985. Despite these misgivings, she had continued to chart well until 1986, when none of her singles reached the Top Ten. RCA Records didn't renew her contract after it expired that year, and she signed with Columbia in 1987.

Before she released her Columbia debut, Parton joined forces with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris to record the rootsy Trio album. Trio became a huge hit, earning both critical and popular acclaim, selling over a million copies and peaking at number six on the pop charts; it also spawned three Top Ten country singles: "To Know Him Is to Love Him," "Telling Me Lies," and "Those Memories of You." Following the success of the album, she had a weekly variety television show, Dolly, on ABC that lasted only one season. Trio also provided a perfect launching pad for her first Columbia album, 1989's White Limozeen, which produced two number one hits in "Why'd You Come in Here Lookin' Like That" and "Yellow Roses."

Though it looked like Parton's career had come back to life, it was actually just a brief revival before contemporary country came along in the early '90s and pushed all the veteran artists out of the charts. Parton had a number one duet with Ricky Van Shelton, "Rockin' Years," in 1991, but after that single, she slowly crept out of the Top Ten and later the Top 40. Parton was one of the most outspoken critics of radio's treatment of older stars. While her sales had declined, she didn't disappear. Parton remained an iconic figure in country music, appearing in films (the 1991 TV movie Wild Texas Wind, 1992's Straight Talk), selling out concerts, and releasing a series of acclaimed albums -- including 1993's Honky Tonk Angels, a collaboration with Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn -- that all sold respectably. Furthermore, "I Will Always Love You" was covered in 1992 by Whitney Houston, who took it to number one on the pop charts; the single spent 14 weeks at number one, becoming the biggest pop hit of the rock & roll era (it was unseated four years later by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day").

In 1994, Parton published her autobiography, My Life and Other Unfinished Business. Treasures, her 1996 album, was a highly praised collection of unusual covers, ranging from Merle Haggard to Neil Young. Hungry Again followed in 1998, and early the following year she reunited with Ronstadt and Harris for a second Trio collection in addition to releasing the solo The Grass Is Blue. A rootsy effort, it was well-received and prompted the release of more recordings like it on Little Sparrow in 2001 and Halos & Horns in 2002. The patriotic For God and Country appeared in 2003 and was followed by the CD and DVD Live and Well a year later. Those Were the Days, from 2005, found Parton covering her favorite pop songs from the '60s and '70s. Backwoods Barbie, Parton's first mainstream country album in nearly 20 years, arrived on her own Dolly Records imprint in 2008. Live from London followed in 2009. An album of all Parton-written material, Better Day, appeared from Dolly Records in 2011, the 41st studio release of her long career. Three years later, Blue Smoke was released, appearing first in Australia and New Zealand in January, then in other territories, including America, in May.

In 2015, Parton's classic song "Coat of Many Colors" was adapted into a made-for-TV movie, which featured Alyvia Alyn Lind as the young Dolly Parton and Jennifer Nettles (from the group Sugarland) as her mother. Parton was a producer on the film, which became a major success, and a Christmas-themed sequel was put into production for the 2016 holiday season. In the summer of 2016, Parton announced that she was headlining a 60-date North American concert tour, her most extensive run of shows in 25 years. The jaunt was being billed as the Pure & Simple Tour, and not coincidentally, she also revealed she was releasing a new album in August 2016, a set of ten original love songs also called Pure & Simple.

In October 2017, Parton released her first children's album, I Believe in You; the album debuted at 20 on Billboard's Country charts. A year later, she returned with the soundtrack to Dumplin', a comedy where her music plays a pivotal role. On the soundtrack, Parton collaborated with Linda Perry on three songs, while duetting with Sia, Elle King, Mavis Staples, and Miranda Lambert on new tunes and a handful of her classics. In 2019, Parton was the subject of a popular podcast series produced by Jad Abumrad, host of NPR's Radiolab. Titled Dolly Parton's America, it explored her uniting influence within American culture from a variety of different angles. The following year she released the single "When Life Gets Good Again," produced and co-written by Kent Wells. A response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the song arrived on the heels of her ten-week web series Goodnight with Dolly, in which she read bedtime stories culled from her non-profit children's literacy book club Imagination Library. Along with the single, Parton donated one-million dollars to Vanderbilt Medical Center to help aid in coronavirus vaccination research. Later in 2020, she released her third holiday-themed album, the Grammy-nominated A Holly Dolly Christmas, which featured an eclectic array of guests including Jimmy Fallon, Michael Bublé, and Miley Cyrus.

Dolly Parton teamed up with crime novelist James Patterson to author Run, Rose, Run, a thriller about an aspiring singer/songwriter on the lam. Parton released a companion album of the same name in March 2022, a record that featured duets with Ben Haggard and Joe Nichols. As she was preparing to launch Run, Rose, Run, Parton was nominated for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Her first inclination was to decline, claiming she never recorded rock music. She wound up accepting the honor, promising to release her first collection of rock songs in commemoration of her induction. The resulting Rockstar featured cameos from a host of rockers -- Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Elton John, John Fogerty, Sheryl Crow, and Stevie Nicks all appeared -- and became her highest-charting album, reaching three on Billboard's Top 200 upon its November 2023 release. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine & David Vinopal

Arriving at the height of bro-country's peak in the mid-2010s, Maddie & Tae skewered that genre's down-home swagger with "Girl in a Country Song," a sharp satire of all the sexist clichés littering the airwaves in 2014. "Girl in a Country Song" became a hit in its own right, reaching number one on Billboard's Country Airplay charts by the end of 2014, making the duo of Maddie Marlow and Taylor Dye genuine country stars. Start Here, Maddie & Tae's 2015 debut, kept the pair on the charts, thanks in part to "Fly," a bittersweet ballad that played to the duo's strengths as harmonizers and canny country-pop synthesizers. The two hits made a lasting impression that sustained Maddie & Tae through some label trouble in the ensuing years, a period that ended with a pair of EPs in 2019 that were subsequently compiled as their 2020 LP The Way It Feels. The EPs Through the Madness, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 appeared in 2022, followed by the 2023 single "Heart They Didn't Break."

Maddie Marlow and Taylor Dye first crossed paths in 2010, when they were students of the same vocal coach while attending high school in the Dallas area. Hitting it off, the two struck up a friendship that turned professional. As Sweet Aliana, the pair began performing and writing songs, making the occasional trip to Nashville. After graduation, they relocated to the Music City, earning the attention of Big Machine Records, which decided to make the duo -- now named Maddie & Tae -- the flagship signing for Dot Records, a legendary label revived under the Big Machine umbrella.

Dot released "Girl in a Country Song" -- a clever satire of bro-country that Marlow and Dye co-wrote with Aaron Scherz -- as Maddie & Tae's first single in July 2014. The track quickly became a sensation within the country music media, then worked its way up the charts. By the end of 2014, it had reached number one on Billboard's Country Airplay charts, an achievement that coincided with the November release of their eponymous debut EP. Along with "Girl in a Country Song," the EP featured their second single, "Fly," which climbed to number nine on Country Airplay in the summer of 2015, setting up the release of their debut LP, Start Here. The album arrived in August of that year, debuting at two on Billboard's Country Album charts and seven on Billboard Top 200, with the single "Shut Up and Fish" peaking at 23 later that fall. Another single, "Sierra," appeared in 2016, but it stalled at 47 on the Country Airplay Charts.

Dot folded in 2017, leaving the duo to transition over to Mercury Nashville in 2018. The single "Friends Don't" arrived in 2018, reaching 33 on Country Airplay. "Friends Don't" and "Die from a Broken Heart" both appeared on One Heart to Another, an EP released in April 2019. Another EP, Everywhere I'm Goin', came out in October of that year as Maddie & Tae wrapped up sessions for their second album. The resulting The Way It Feels, which contained all of the two previously released EPs, arrived in April 2020. The following year saw the release of the single "Woman You Got," which appeared on the duo's 2022 EP Through the Madness, Vol. 1. Vol. 2, which included the hit "Every Night Every Morning," appeared later that year. In June 2023, the duo celebrated their friendship with the Corey Crowder-produced standalone single "Heart They Didn't Break." ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

A singer whose style blends country sounds with a pop sensibility, Jessie James Decker's vocal style is strong enough to shine in either style, though her heart is most clearly in country themes. Decker is most at home with songs about love, either going well or going south, and she brings a style and glamour to her performances that doesn't cancel out the girl-next-door outlook of her songs. Delivering a slick fusion of country and pop on her 2009 debut as Jessie James, she pushed her country mood up in the mix when she re-established herself as Jessie James Decker on 2014's Comin Home, and she achieved an easy balance between heart and polish on 2021's The Woman I've Become with its hit "Should Have Known Better." She later dueted with Billy Currington on 2022's sultry pop ballad "I Still Love You."

Born Jessica Rose James, Decker's somewhat exotic birthplace was a product of her being raised in a military family. By the time she was nine, Decker's family was living in Louisiana, where she won a regional talent contest with a cover of Patsy Montana's "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart." By 15, Decker was living in Georgia. She'd started writing songs, and was paying regular visits to Nashville, making the rounds of record companies and music publishers, looking for a deal. She was 17 when she caught the ear of a representative of independent label Big Yellow Dog Records, who began shopping her songs to artists and labels. When Mercury Records president David Massey heard Decker's demos, he passed them along to L.A. Reid, head of the affiliated Island/Def Jam label group, and Reid signed her to a record deal.

Her first album, a self-titled effort under the moniker Jessie James, arrived in August 2009. Jessie James was reasonably successful and featured "Wanted," a single that brushed the Top 40 of the singles charts. However, while Decker had always considered herself a country artist, the album was produced and marketed with a pop audience in mind. After two more singles from the album stiffed, Decker battled with label executives for greater control over her music, and her next single, "Boys in the Summer," was a more country-oriented release. Decker's second album, announced under the titles of Daughter of a Gypsy or Sweet American Dreams, was shelved by Mercury, and after three singles fared poorly on the country charts, Decker was released from her contract.

While Decker's recording career was not all she hoped it would be, her personal life was on the upswing. In 2013, she married professional football star Eric Decker, and the couple became the stars of a reality TV series, Eric & Jessie: Game On. The series ran two seasons and raised her public profile considerably, as did her YouTube channel, which offered beauty and fashion tips to her fans. Now recording as Jessie James Decker, she struck a new record deal with 19 Records, and April 2014 saw the release of the EP Comin Home, which rose to number five on the country chart. Before long, Decker once again jumped labels, this time to the company that first noticed her, Big Yellow Dog. In January 2015 she released a single, "Clint Eastwood," followed in August by "Lights Down Low," which rose to number 38 on the country singles chart, her highest placement there to date. An EP of holiday songs, This Christmas, was released by Big Yellow Dog in December 2015.

Early in 2017, Decker switched from Big Yellow Dog to Epic, releasing the Gold EP in February 2017. The EP contained two songs co-written by Maren Morris, one of Epic's rising country stars of 2016. Another EP, The Blackbird Sessions, followed a few months later, featuring live covers recorded at Nashville's Blackbird Studios. Southern Girl City Lights, her first full album since 2009, was released in October 2017; the record topped the country charts. A year later, Decker released the seasonal album On This Holiday.

When not occupied with recording and touring, Decker began branching out and expanding her brand. October 2018 saw the publication of her first book, a cookbook and lifestyle guide titled Just Jessie: My Guide to Love, Life, Family, and Food. It was successful enough that she returned in September 2020 with a second book, Just Feed Me: Simply Delicious Recipes from My Heart to Your Plate. She also launched a casual clothing line, Kittenish, initially through an online shop, moving on to brick-and-mortar locations in early 2019. In January 2020, Decker signed a new record contract with Warner/Atlantic, and her first release for a label was a Christmas single, "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town." The COVID-19 pandemic caused Decker to postpone recording plans for her next project, but October 2021 brought a seven-song EP, The Woman I've Become, with its hit single "Should Have Known Better." After the 2022 single "Grow Young With You," Decker teamed up with Billy Currington on the slinky duet "I Still Love You." ~ Mark Deming