Name: Dolly Parton turns 76: Here are 76 reasons to love the hitmaker and humanitarian
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Dolly Parton turns 76: Here are 76 reasons to love the hitmaker and humanitarian

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Knoxville News SentinelView Comments Who doesn't love ? The hitmaker and humanitarian has achieved a lot in her 76 years of life, and she's not slowing down.&nbsp;To celebrate her 76th birthday, we've come up with 76 reasons why we'll always love Parton. From decades of philanthropy to the small things she's done to make the world a better place for everyone, here's a reason for each year of Parton's life.&nbsp;1. She helped fund a cure for&nbsp;COVID-19&nbsp;Leave it to Parton to end the coronavirus pandemic – or, at least, try. to Vanderbilt&nbsp;University Medical Center after her friend&nbsp;Dr. Naji Abumrad, a Vanderbilt surgeon, told her about the "exciting for a cure."Vanderbilt researchers and others across the country contributed to the development of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, which is shown to be 94.5% effective against the virus after two shots.&nbsp;2. Parton's Dollywood is the perfect place to spend the day and the largest employer in Sevier County&nbsp;3. Her&nbsp;Imagination Library has inspired a love for reading&nbsp;Since 1995, Parton's Imagination Library, a&nbsp;literacy program for kids around the world, has delivered more than 150 million books&nbsp;and counting.4. She loves her "Tennessee Mountain Home"5. The Smoky&nbsp;Mountain songbird has a voice unlike anyone else6. She's&nbsp;a business boss7. She's real where it counts (on the inside)8. The&nbsp;lyrical lady has written more than 3,000 songs9. She always knows what to sayParton's quips,&nbsp;known as 10. What can't Dolly do? Parton sings, acts, plays multiple instruments, writes, produces&nbsp;and more11. Dolly can dress – the star's iconic style is one of a kind12. Her bigger-than-life blond&nbsp;hair&nbsp;(even if it is a wig)13. Everyone loves Dolly, and Dolly loves everyone back14. Her recent resurgenceParton has gained new popularity after catching the attention of younger audiences on projects like&nbsp;the&nbsp;NPR&nbsp;podcast "Dolly Parton's America,"&nbsp;the Netflix series "Dolly Parton's Heartstrings" and many other series and documentaries based on her life and work.&nbsp;15. She inspires all kinds of artists16. She doesn't shy away from social media (and memes)Parton, or at least someone on her team, started the on social media in 2020. The viral trend showed&nbsp;the hilarious differences between LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Tinder profile pictures.&nbsp;17. Her life is a real rags to riches story&nbsp;18. Despite being on full display, she's got a private life19. Dolly doesn't seem to ageDolly's humor and positive attitude never age.&nbsp;Whenever she’s asked how she’d like to be remembered 100 years from now, Parton touts&nbsp;one of her best Dollyisms: “I want ’em to say, ‘God, don’t she look good for her age!’”20.&nbsp;Parton's &nbsp;paid people affected by the 2016 Gatlinburg fires more than&nbsp;$8 millionShe donated an additional $3 million&nbsp;to Mountain Tough to&nbsp;support recovery and founded the&nbsp;Wildfire Scholarship Fund to provide $4,500 scholarships to all junior and senior high school students who lost their homes to the fire.21. She spoke out during protests against racial injustice and police brutality in 2020Parton showed support for Black Lives Matter in&nbsp;an interview with , saying she hasn't attended any marches during the&nbsp;summer, but she supports the protest movement and its push for racial justice."Of course Black lives matter. Do we think our little white asses are the only ones that matter? No!"22. Dolly 101: University of Tennessee students can take a 23.&nbsp;Some scientific discoveries have been named after DollyThe world's first cloned sheep and an Appalachian lichen share the singer's name.24. She wrote "Jolene"&nbsp;and "I Will Always Love You" on the same day25. Parton's&nbsp;production company brought "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" to air26. There's an official Dolly Parton DayFormer Nashville Mayor David Briley declared&nbsp;Aug. 5 "Dolly Parton Day."27. She is one of the few people ever to be nominated for an Oscar, a Grammy, a Tony and an Emmy28. Dolly received three encores at her&nbsp;Grand Ole Opry debut, and she was only 13 years old29. Parton released "When Life Is Good Again" to lift&nbsp;everyone's spirits as COVID-19 spread across the world30. We have Parton's acrylic nails to thank for the "9 to 5" tuneShe used her nails as an instrument when she was writing&nbsp;the theme song for&nbsp;the comedy that starred Parton, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda. The song was nominated for an Academy Award.31. She's a genre shifter&nbsp;32. Parton&nbsp;went from the 'girl singer' on "The Porter Wagoner Show"&nbsp;to a worldwide sensation33.&nbsp;Parton appeared on the cover of the October 1978 issue wearing a&nbsp;Playboy bunny&nbsp;outfit, complete with ears. She&nbsp;told if the magazine was up for it, she'd love to do a 75th birthday shoot.&nbsp;34. Her famous familySeveral of the Parton siblings sing and act. Stella, Cassie, Freida, Randy and Rachel have all been in the entertainment business over the years. Parton also is Miley Cyrus's godmother.&nbsp;35.&nbsp;She's a storyteller&nbsp;36. Plenty of people have leaned on Parton's music to get them through dark timesEven Nelson Mandela,&nbsp;the most significant Black leader in South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize winner, requested Parton's hit "Jolene" while in prison.&nbsp;37.&nbsp;Dr. Dolly: Parton received an honorary&nbsp;Doctor of Humane Letters&nbsp;from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville&nbsp;38.&nbsp;She is the honorary chairperson of a foundation dedicated to establishing adequate health care facilities in Sevier County, and it's named after&nbsp;the doctor who delivered her39.&nbsp;Dolly knows how to make an entranceOn her&nbsp;first day recording at the historic RCA Studio B, Parton&nbsp;was late for her session and rammed her new car into the side of the recording studio’s brick wall. She went on to have many more hits — fortunately, they were of the musical variety.40.&nbsp;She has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame&nbsp;41. Parton and her husband helped raise&nbsp;several of Parton's younger siblingsHer nieces and nephews&nbsp;refer to her as "Aunt Granny," a nickname&nbsp;that is now the&nbsp;name of one of Dollywood's&nbsp;restaurants.&nbsp;42. Parton opened her own bald eagle sanctuary to help preserve another American icon43. She's spiritual&nbsp;In December, Parton told she starts her day with meditation and reading scriptures.&nbsp;44.&nbsp; Parton tumbles out of the bed before sunriseParton is known to wake up and start her days by 3 a.m. In an interview with Marie Claire, Parton&nbsp;said she does&nbsp;“some of my best spiritual work, some of my best writing, and some of my business work — call-ins and letters that I’m writing or whatever," between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m.&nbsp;45. She's known her best friend Judy Ogle since the third grade46. LeConte Medical Center is home to the Dolly Parton Center for Women’s Services and The Dolly Parton Birthing Unit47. She's got her own statue in Sevierville&nbsp;Proposed statue:48. Dollywood has hidden references to Dolly's upbringing in East TennesseeFrom a replica of her Tennessee mountain home to a lookalike of The Pines Theater where Parton played her first paying gig, there are references throughout the theme park. Only the biggest Parton fans can&nbsp;catch them all!49. She was singing on radio and television when she was just 10 years old50. Parton is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame51. Parton's Buddy Program encouraged students to stay in schoolIn 1991, Parton told&nbsp;every Sevier County student in seventh and eighth grades if they graduated from high school, she'd personally give them $500 each. The catch was that each student had to pick a buddy to graduate alongside them.&nbsp;Several years later, Dolly's initiative helped decrease&nbsp;the dropout rate from more than 30% to 6%.&nbsp;52. She's the godmother to Instagram-famous French bulldog Billy the Kid53. After her high school graduation, Parton headed to Nashville to start her singing career the next day54.&nbsp;She's a big supporter of Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s HospitalParton donated $1 million to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital's Pediatric Cancer Program in 2017. The next year, the Vanderbilt hospital renamed a butterfly garden in honor of Parton's niece Hannah Dennison, a survivor of childhood cancer.55. She was an actual angel and saved her 9-year-old co-star on the set of&nbsp;her Netflix movie "Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square"56. Parton&nbsp;paid Dollywood employees when COVID-19 closed the park and other propertiesThe spread of the coronavirus in March caused Dollywood Co. officials to delay the opening of the 35th season. All employees who were scheduled to work were paid. But as&nbsp;the pandemic pushed on for months, the company furloughed and reduced the salaries of some employees. In the meantime, Dollywood paid 100% of premiums for people on its healthcare plan.57. The Dolly Parton Scholarship gives $15,000 to five Sevier County seniors to go toward&nbsp;their&nbsp;college education each year58. One deserving teacher is presented with the Chasing Rainbows Award and gets to spend&nbsp;a week as Parton’s guest at Dollywood each year59. Dolly is always dolled upParton told that she even sleeps in her makeup because "you never know" if someone might see you before the morning.&nbsp;60. one time, but she doesn't harbor any ill feelings61. She holds&nbsp;two Guinness World Records62. Her tasteful hidden tattoos63.&nbsp;She'd rather have birthday pie instead of birthday cakeParton prefers a different dessert on her birthday.&nbsp;“I don’t eat much cake. I usually have pie on my birthday," Parton told . "My favorite pie is chess pie. That is 'chess' not CHEST pie."64. Her humilityParton has never been one to brag, but when Billboard&nbsp;asked her if she felt different in 2014 than when she first came to Nashville 50 years earlier, Parton&nbsp;said, “I'm more successful now than I was then, but I still feel like the same girl. I'm just a working girl. I never think of myself as a star because, as somebody once said, ‘A star is nothing but a big ball of gas’ — and I don't want to be that.”65. She restored her childhood home and made it fully functional&nbsp;66. Parton is a pro at "Dollitics"As someone who is known for her apolitical prowess, Parton has mastered what her nephew&nbsp;called "Dollitics" on "Dolly Parton's America." It's one of the many reasons why everyone – no matter political affiliation – has an affinity for Parton.&nbsp;67. She stands up for womenAlthough she isn't a fan of the term feminist, Parton told she supposes she is a feminist.&nbsp;"I suppose I am a feminist if I believe that women should be able to do anything they want to," Parton said. "And when I say a feminist, I just mean I don’t have to, for myself, get out and carry signs ... I just really feel I can live my femininity and actually show that you can be a woman and you can still do whatever you want to do."68. She wants to perform as long as possible69. of one of her most popular attractions to appeal to and make more guests comfortable no matter where the show goes70. 71. Her contagious laugh and comedic timing&nbsp;72. She's always herselfLike Parton says, "Find out who you are, and do it on purpose."73.&nbsp;Her friendships with some of music's greatest artists led to classic country duets74. She started an to read children to sleep&nbsp;75. She's still making music —&nbsp;and more!On March 4, Parton will release a new album titled&nbsp;"Run, Rose, Run," and its 12 songs mirror the story from her . The story is&nbsp;"of a young woman who leaves home for Nashville&nbsp;to pursue her music-making dreams and the dark secret from her past that threatens it all."Last week, shared one of its songs,76. There's still so much to learn and loveView Comments

Knoxville News SentinelView Comments Who doesn't love ? The hitmaker and humanitarian has achieved a lot in her 76 years of life, and she's not slowing down.&nbsp;To celebrate her 76th birthday, we've come up with 76 reasons why we'll always love Parton. From decades of philanthropy to the small things she's done to make the world a better place for everyone, here's a reason for each year of Parton's life.&nbsp;1. She helped fund a cure for&nbsp;COVID-19&nbsp;Leave it to Parton to end the coronavirus pandemic – or, at least, try. to Vanderbilt&nbsp;University Medical Center after her...

Dolly Parton turns 76: Here are 76 reasons to love the hitmaker and humanitarian

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