Dolly Parton released her first recording at age 13, a rockabilly number she cowrote called 'Puppy Love.'

Before becoming a country superstar, Dolly Parton recorded girl group-style singles as a teenager, including one that became a hit outside the US.

Dolly Parton teamed up with country star Porter Wagoner in 1967 as a cohost on his popular TV show.

'9 to 5' was Dolly Parton's first No. 1 pop hit.

Elvis Presley wanted to record 'I Will Always Love You,' but Dolly Parton refused.

Dolly Parton initially declined her nomination for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, though the Hall inducted her anyways.

Dolly Parton recorded two albums with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris under the name Trio.

As disco grew more popular, country star Dolly Parton experimented with the genre.

Dolly Parton jumped to Hollywood in the 1980s, where she became a bona fide movie star.

Explore the best Dolly Parton songs, including 'Jolene,' '9 to 5,' and many more.

Dolly Parton's 'I Will Always Love You' is a widely covered standard that's been a No. 1 hit multiple times.

A young Dolly Parton felt confined by her partnership with country star and TV host Porter Wagoner.

Dolly Parton wrote the song '9 to 5' on the set of the movie '9 to 5.'

Taylor Swift was 16 when she released her debut album

When Taylor Swift released her first album, she was a little-known country singer-songwriter. A decade later, she was a world-famous pop superstar. In the first 10 years of Swift's career, her songwriting talent, savvy marketing, and engagement with fans helped propel her into stardom.

Dolly Parton's 'Jolene' was partly based on a real woman who flirted with Parton's husband.

Dolly Parton's 'I Will Always Love You' was written as a goodbye for her musical collaborator, Porter Wagoner.

Read a 1984 interview with Dolly Parton, conducted by artist Andy Warhol.

Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers' 'Islands in the Stream' was written by the Bee Gees.

Dolly Parton hosted two separate variety television shows called 'Dolly.'

Taylor Swift's family encouraged her interest in music from a young age, and moved to Nashville before she reached high school so she could be close to the country music industry.

Dolly Parton consistently declined opportunities to align herself with politicians.

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library program provides free books to kids.

The classic girl group sound arrived with doo-wop

Doo-wop was a type of vocal-based pop music popular in the '50s that coincided with the rise of early rock 'n' roll. The mid-tempo, harmony-heavy songs about teenage life provided the template for the girl group sound, which arrived at the end of the decade.

The self-titled country album hinted at what would come later

While Taylor Swift eventually crossed over to pop, a Pitchfork review of her first release hints at the ingredients that would fuel Taylor’s rapid ascent and help her connect with fans, including songs with catchy melodies, relatable themes, and deeply personal lyrics that reflect her experiences as a young woman.

Dolly Parton produced the original 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' movie.

A Tennessee children's hospital changed its name to Dolly Parton Children's Hospital.

The Shirelles' 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow' was the first girl group record to reach No. 1

The 1960 song, composed by husband-and-wife Brill Building occupants Gerry Goffin and Carole King, was more than a little suggestive. The main character wondered if her partner would abandon her after a night of passion, leading to some stations banning the record. But it also propelled the song to the top of the Billboard Hot 100.

Elvis was allegedly chided for playing rock 'n' roll at the Grand Ole Opry

Elvis Presley had deep roots in country music, though the Grand Ole Opry and its audience weren’t happy with Presley’s rocking take when he performed for his first (and only) time in 1954. Afterwards, the Opry’s manager Jim Denny allegedly told Presley, “Don’t quit your day job.”

Yodeling wasn't intended to be music

Alpine herders originally used the technique to call cattle. When it made its way to the US, in the South and Appalachia, yodeling was a popular singing style in "hillbilly music," which eventually evolved into country.

Daniel Johnston's home recordings have inspired countless rock legends

The singer-songwriter self-released cassettes in the early '80s that were not fit for the radio—their sound quality was poor, and the songs were often little more than an organ and Johnston's high-pitched voice, singing about things like Casper the Friendly Ghost. The tapes eventually found their way to alternative tastemakers, who lauded the songs' brilliance and inspired a cult following that has admired Johnston's music for decades.

The 1927 'Bristol Sessions' birthed the modern country industry

Country music has been around since the early American colonies, but the modern country industry began in 1927 in a small town on the Tennessee-Virginia border. Here, Ralph Peer recorded songs from the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, and a dozen more artists through a 12-day stint called "The Bristol Sessions."

'Livery Stable Blues' was the first jazz recording and helped popularize the genre

The 1917 song by the Original Dixieland Jass Band was the first jazz recording to be issued and put the New Orleans sound on the national stage, along with inspiring several soundalikes.

Hear the first classic girl group record: the Chantels’ ‘Maybe’

While there were all-female vocal groups before the Chantels, most critics consider the group’s 1957 single “Maybe” to be the first record of the classic girl group sound because it established the model’s foundational elements: a mid-tempo backbeat, soaring harmonies, and yearning lyrics.

Honky-tonk features a rollicking stomp

Widely considered the first honky-tonk song, Ernest Tubb’s "Walking the Floor Over You" is a perfect example of the subgenre's upbeat percussion, barroom piano, and chippy lyricism. The song is a country music classic, being inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and preserved in the Library of Congress.

Listen to Jackie Brenston's 'Rocket 88,' widely considered the first rock 'n' roll song.

Barrett Strong's 'Money (That's What I Want)' was Motown's first hit record, reaching both Billboard's R&B and pop charts in 1960.

Patti Smith's 'Horses' was the first album from the CBGB scene

The poet’s debut album, released in 1975, blended literature and the early New York punk sound. Smith called the combination “three chords merged with the power of the word.” Throughout the album, she references and repurposes earlier rock hits (including Them’s “Gloria” and Chris Kenner’s “Land of 1,000 Dances”).

'Islands in the Stream' was another massive crossover hit for Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton.

Watch Bill Haley bring rock 'n' roll to mainstream America with his first performance on 'The Ed Sullivan Show.'

Taylor Swift's songwriting resonated with teenage girls around the world

One fan recalls that the themes of Swift's early songs included hope, betrayal, and a sense of being unremarkable but wanting to be special. She argues that these themes were especially powerful to young girls, regardless of where they were from.

Read an early piece of journalism on country music

This 1904 Harper’s Weekly article from Emma Bell Miles offers an early example of country music criticism. Miles traces the music’s roots to the mountaineers who pioneered it. It’s a famous piece for music writers: Miles saw a phenomenon building in the hills long before any major record label.

Although payola was made illegal in 1960, it likely continued on the Billboard charts through the '70s

In his book “Uncharted Territory: What Numbers Tell Us about the Biggest Hit Songs and Ourselves,” music journalist Chris Dalla Riva argues that payola, the music industry term for undisclosed paid publicity, likely continued into the 1970s with the Billboard chart. Dalla Riva cites chart irregularities and reports about Bill Wardlow, Billboard’s then director of sales, who was a known booster for disco label Casablanca Records.

Chuck Berry was one of rock 'n' roll's early innovators.

After Warner Bros signed him at 18, Prince wrote a song to thank them

The label scooped the young artist in 1977, eager to ink a deal with the promising young savant. In response, Prince wrote a song called "I Hope We Can Work It Out," which suggested together they'd make "Music for the young and old, music bound to be gold." An official recording of the song was never released, but the Minnesota Historical Society acquired the original handwritten lyrics in 2017. You can see them below.

'Over the Rainbow' became a widely covered standard

Judy Garland’s original 1939 version won the Academy Award for best original song, though it never appeared on the Billboard pop singles chart (which didn’t appear until 1940). Twenty different versions of the song by other artists—including Willie Nelson, Patti LaBelle, and Israel "Iz" Kamakawiwo'ole—have appeared on numerous Billboard charts.

As a girl, Billie Holiday fell in love with music while scrubbing the floors of a brothel

Record players were rarities in the 1920s, but Holiday had access to one at Alice Dean's, the brothel in Baltimore where she scrubbed floors. It was there that she listened to her heroes, Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith.

Why one country legend embraced punk rock

Dwight Yoakam was among the most popular country music acts of the 1980s, praised for his upbeat rockabilly and neo-Bakersfield sound. In this interview, Yoakam explains why he left the Midwest for California and began playing in punk clubs, including with an iteration of the legendary LA punk outfit X.

Country musicians grappled with the outlaw archetype on screen

As country grew more popular, some of its biggest stars leapt to the silver screen, with Johnny Cash in "Five Minutes to Live," Kris Kristofferson in "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid," and Dolly Parton in "9 to 5." Kristin Hunt notes that all of these films featured country stars toying with the outlaw archetype, a prevalent theme throughout the history of country music.

Bob Dylan wrote and recorded songs that later became hits when they were covered by artists like Jimi Hendrix, Adele, and Guns N' Roses.

'A Boy Named Sue,' made famous by Johnny Cash, was written by Shel Silverstein, a writer best known for his children's poetry.

A DJ helped popularize the term 'rock 'n' roll' to resell rhythm and blues to a broad audience.