Grand Ole Opry celebrates Dolly Parton’s birthday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Grand Ole Opry celebrated the 77th birthday recently of Opry member Dolly Parton, one of country music’s greatest global ambassadors, at the Ryman Auditorium. Among those who performed included Chapel Hart, John Conlee, The Fairfield Four, Caitlyn Smith, Connie Smith, Marty Stuart, Rhonda Vincent and Chris Young.

Chapel Hart performed Parton’s “Jolene” as well as their answer song “You Can Have Him, Jolene” before singing a Parton-inspired version of “Happy Birthday.” The Opry square dancers donned Dolly hair and joined the trio on its new Loretta Lynn “Fist City” answer, “Welcome To Fist City.”

A portion of the night’s ticket sales will be donated to the Opry Trust Fund in Parton’s honor. For more than 50 years, the fund has assisted members of the country music community in need.

The Opry will conclude its special one-month run at the Ryman Auditorium next week with another two-show Saturday night before returning to the Grand Ole Opry House in February. Among the artists scheduled to appear during the month include Jackson Dean, ERNEST, The Isaacs, Chris Janson, Lady A, Gary LeVox, Dustin Lynch, Chase Rice, Scotty McCreery, Wendy Moten, The Oak Ridge Boys, Mark O’Connor, Don Schlitz, Nate Smith, Lainey Wilson, and more. Tickets are on sale now for all shows through August 2023 at (615) 871-OPRY and opry.com.

Parton is the most honored and revered female country singer-songwriter of all time and recently was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Achieving 25 RIAA-certified gold, platinum, and multi-platinum awards, she has had 26 songs reach No. 1 on the Billboard country charts, a record for a female artist. Recently, Parton reached No. 1 on the Billboard Christian Airplay Chart for the first time for her duet with Grammy award-winning Zach Williams of “There Was Jesus,” for which they won a Grammy that year, making that her 11th Grammy win. She received her first Dove Award for short form video for her collaboration with for King & Country on the song “God Only Knows.”

Parton is the first artist to have topped the Billboard’s Adult Contemporary, Christian AC Songs, Hot Country Songs, Christian Airplay, Country Airplay and Dance/Mix Show Airplay radio charts. She recently became the first country artist honored as Grammy MusiCares Person of the Year given out by NARAS. She has 48 career Top 10 country albums, a record for any artist, and 110 career-charted singles over the past 50-plus years.

In 2014 the RIAA recognized her impact on recorded music with a plaque commemorating more than 100 million units sold worldwide. Her 2016 No. 1 album, “Pure & Simple,” which topped the Billboard Top Country Albums and Americana/Folk Albums charts and debuted at No. 1 in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Australia, added to that massive tally. She has garnered 11 Grammy Awards and 51 nominations, including the Lifetime Achievement Award and a 2020 win with for King & Country for their collaboration on “God Only Knows;”; 10 Country Music Association Awards, including Entertainer of the Year; five Academy of Country Music Awards, also including a nod for Entertainer of the Year; four People’s Choice Awards; and three American Music Awards. In 1999, Parton was inducted as a member of the coveted Country Music Hall of Fame.

In 2020, she released the Christmas album “A Holly Dolly Christmas,” which went No. 1 on the Billboard Country and Holiday charts, as well as releasing the best-selling coffee table book “Songteller: My Life in Lyrics.” In 2021, she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie for the film “Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square,” and last December she released on NBC an all-new original holiday movie called “Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas,” which she starred in as well as produced.

To date, Parton has donated more than 197 million books to children around the world through her Imagination Library. Her children’s book “Coat of Many Colors” was dedicated to the Library of Congress to honor the Imagination Library’s 100 millionth book donation. In March of 2022, Parton released the book “Run Rose Run,” which she co-authored with James Patterson. That book sat at No. 1 on the New York Times Bestseller’s List for five weeks, a record for this decade. She also released an accompanying album of the same name with original songs inspired by the book, and the album reached No. 1 on three charts simultaneously: Country, Americana/Folk and Bluegrass Albums.

From her “Coat of Many Colors” while working “9 to 5,” no dream is too big and no mountain too high for the country girl who turned the world into her stage. For more information, visit DollyParton.com.