Dolly Parton's legendary career is truly one to behold.
The musical icon, 80, has been a working musician for seven decades, and is the winner of multiple Grammy, Emmy and Golden Globe Awards, a Tony, plus has two Oscar nominations.
She is also one of the best selling recording artists of all time, one of the most beloved figures in entertainment and, likely most impressive of all, has written and composed over 3,000 songs in her lifetime.
© Getty ImagesSo it's no surprise that at the end of the day, Dolly will always consider herself to be a songwriter first and foremost.
Dolly Parton on being a "songteller"
On her Substack, the country music superstar is revisiting tales from her 2020 book Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics, with the help of resurfaced interviews and anecdotes about her journey in the industry.
Speaking of the book itself, she notes: "Well, I think Songteller pretty much sums me up because I love songs, and I love to tell stories," adding: "I think that I am a 'Songteller' because I tell stories through my songs. I just thought that would be the perfect name for our book and a good title for me."
© Getty ImagesDolly Parton's difficult choice
Dolly also reflected on being posed at times with a difficult choice: to be a singer, a songwriter, a performer or a businesswoman. "I've always said I would choose to be a songwriter because, through that, I'm able to express all those other things," she responded.
Expanding on her choice, though, the "Jolene" hitmaker continued: "Of course, if you're going to write a song, you've got to sing it, so therefore I am a singer as a songwriter. The same thing goes for the stories that I write. You almost have to act them out, so in that way, I am an entertainer too," although at the end of the day, "everything that I am really starts with the song."
When it comes down to picking just one, Dolly explained that she considers songwriting her "therapy" of sorts, a way to express the ups and downs of her life in a way that felt just as artistic as it did cathartic.
© Getty ImagesWhy Dolly Parton never went to a therapist
"If it came down to doing just one thing, I would choose to sit, enjoy life, experience life, the sorrows and whatever else it may bring, and write about it," she said. "I never had to go to a therapist because that's my therapy. My guitar is my therapy too. I play other instruments to write with, but the guitar is my main instrument."
"So with my little guitar, and my little head for writing songs, and my gift for rhyming, I just feel like I can go just about anywhere and do anything. I think I could sit in my house forevermore, write songs, and be perfectly happy."
© Getty ImagesDolly Parton's early career
After performing as a child for several years on local TV and radio stations, Dolly's professional career first began as a songwriter. She co-wrote most frequently with her uncle Bill Owens.
She signed with Columbine Publishing and penned several top 20 hits of the time, including Bill Phillips' "Put It Off Again Until Tomorrow" and Porter Wagoner's "I Lived So Fast and Hard."
© Getty ImagesAfter signing with Monument Records herself, she was initially positioned as a bubblegum pop singer, but achieved limited success. In 1966, she finally began producing country music, leading to her debut album the following year, Hello, I'm Dolly. And the rest, as they say, is history!
