Dolly Parton is a musical legend and trailblazer in the industry as one of the most honored female country performers of all time. She’s been singing since the early ’60s and experienced huge commercial success as a musical performer, singer, and songwriter. Some of her most popular hits are “Here You Come Again,” “Islands in the Stream,” and “9 to 5.” Dolly is one of the most Grammy-nominated artists with 41 top 10 country albums and 110 charted singles in the past 40 years! She has 8 Grammy wins, 2 Academy Award nominations, 10 CMA Awards, 7 Academy of Country Music Awards and 3 American Music Awards. She’s also only one of 7 females to have ever won the CMA Entertainer of the Year Award. Dolly Parton has been around for a long time, but there’s still a lot to know about this female artist! Here are 10 things you probably didn’t know about the country singer.
10. Charity Work
One of the best things about Dolly Parton is that she has a huge heart. She has used her platform as a celebrity to get involved in charity work, especially in the area of literacy through her Dollywood Foundation. In 1996 she founded Imagination Library to encourage literacy in her home state of Tennessee. The program is designed to mail age-appropriate books nationwide, as well as to Canada, the U.K., and Australia. Since it opened she has donated 45 million books and the program itself has continuously distributed approximately 10 million free books annually. Not only does this program promote a great cause, it’s also brought a lot of jobs to a region that struggles economically, fulfilling another goal of hers which is to create jobs.
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