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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dolly Parton consistently declined opportunities to align herself with politicians.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

Billboard's first No. 1 single was Tommy Dorsey Orchestra's 'I'll Never Smile Again'

The song was No. 1 on Billboard’s Best Selling Retail Records chart, the predecessor to the Hot 100. The chart only measured record copies sold, excluding other indicators of popularity, like sheet music sales or jukebox plays, that were used on other charts.

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

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

'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.

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

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

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

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.

The artists with the most No. 1 singles

Scoring a No. 1 single is a difficult task—less than 4% of the songs that have made Billboard's Hot 100 chart have ever reached the top spot. This list breaks down the most elite hitmakers in Billboard history, including the Supremes, Taylor Swift, and the Beatles, who released an incredible 20 No. 1 singles.

Whitney Houston's 1991 Super Bowl rendition is the only recording of the national anthem to reach the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100.

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.

A 2026 survey found that Dolly Parton is far more popular in the US than the world's politicians.

Bob Newhart was the first comedian to have a chart-topping album with his 1960 record 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart.'

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."

Taylor Swift was the first artist to occupy all of Billboard's Top 10

Swift's 2022 release "Midnights" led to an unprecedented feat: For the first time in Billboard history, the entire top 10 of the Hot 100 was occupied by the same artist. Two years later, "The Tortured Poets Department" would occupy the first 14 slots on the chart.

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.

Mariah Carey's 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' is the longest-running No. 1 single

In 2025, the 1994 track spent 20 weeks atop Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. The song has been a popular Christmas number since its release, but streaming has elevated it to a perennial chart-topper: Every time someone plays the song on a service like Spotify (something that’s likely to happen every holiday season), they’re effectively casting a vote for it to hit the chart.

'The Life of a Showgirl' was Swift's 15th chart-topping album

That places her second on Billboard's all-time list, though streaming has significantly changed how "sales" are interpreted. Prior to the shift to digital music, Billboard's album chart relied solely on sales of physical units. Since 2014, the chart has also considered streams from services like Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.

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.

'The Grand Ole Opry' turned Nashville into the country music capital

By 1932, country was being broadcast to 30 states and parts of Canada. That influence turned the Tennessee city into a destination for those interested in working in the budding industry.

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

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

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.

Country music's popularity skyrocketed in the 21st century, establishing itself as a dominant force on the Billboard charts in the 2010s.

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.

'Where Did Our Love Go' was the first of 12 No. 1 singles for the Supremes

'The Grand Ole Opry' radio show debuted in 1925

The Grand Ole Opry began as "The WSM Barn Dance," broadcasting from downtown Nashville. The name changed when its host, transitioning from the station's previous program, said, "You've been up in the clouds with Grand Opera; now get down to earth with us in a shindig of Grand Ole Opry!"

'Take Me Out to the Ballgame,' the song that's now a 7th inning tradition at every MLB game, was inspired by a billboard advertisement.

The Original Nine paved the way for the WTA

In the late 1960s, men earned 2-3 times as much per tournament as women did. With professional tennis largely run by men, the women didn't have leverage. That prompted nine women to break away and form their own tournament, which in turn led to a dedicated tour the following year. This paved the way for the WTA, and eventually equal pay at Majors.

2025 marked the first time in 35 years a hip-hop song wasn't in the top 40

The Billboard Hot 100 chart dated October 25, 2025, didn't have any rap or hip-hop songs in its top 40 singles, something that hadn't happened since Feb. 2, 1990. One explanation is a Billboard methodology change, and another is Taylor Swift's "The Life of a Showgirl."

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