{"id":8119,"date":"2026-01-17T00:58:29","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T00:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/best-dolly-parton-songs\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T00:58:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T00:58:29","slug":"best-dolly-parton-songs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/best-dolly-parton-songs\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolly Parton\u2019s 25 Best Songs: Critics\u2019\u00a0Picks"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
\n

\n\tSince releasing her debut solo album, 1967\u2019s\u00a0Hello, I\u2019m Dolly<\/em>,\u00a0Dolly Parton<\/a>\u00a0has changed the face of the entertainment industry. Kicking down doors for female performers in both country and pop music, she has soared in the worlds of books, television, philanthropy<\/a> and movies \u2014 and pretty much whatever else she tackled. On Jan. 19, Parton \u2013 who has topped the Billboard Hot 100 twice and Billboard<\/em>\u2018s Hot Country Songs a whopping 25 times \u2014 is turning 80 years old. <\/p>\n

\n\tHer expansive roster of hits reads like a \u201cbest of\u201d list of the 1970s and 1980s, and it remains one of the strongest song catalogs of any singer-songwriter in any genre. As a writer, she has penned everything from poignant, detailed ballads about life in the Great Smoky Mountains, where she grew up, to some of the most defining love songs of all time.<\/p>\n

\n\tHer prowess as a songwriter and performer is so great, it earned her a historic induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022 \u2014 an accomplishment she almost didn\u2019t accept, telling Billboard<\/a> <\/em>at the time that she didn\u2019t feel like she \u201cmeasured up\u201d to past inductees. A legacy like hers, however, deserves the title of \u201crock star\u201d no matter what style of music she makes, and the world agreed. She went on to become the second female country artist (after Brenda Lee) to be inducted in both the Rock & Roll and Country Music Halls of Fame. (Parton has also been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPeople usually [say] \u2018Dolly rocks\u2019 or \u2018you rock\u2019 or \u2018you\u2019re a rock star,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cI thought they just meant that I was cool, and I took that as a great compliment. But now I\u2019m going to have to take it literally!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn choosing our favorite Dolly Parton songs, we settled on these 25. Many of them came from her own pen, and all of them will \u201cAlways\u201d have staying power. To be fair, we could do a list of our favorite Dolly duets, too, but wanted to keep this one solo focused.<\/p>\n

\n\tKeep reading to see Dolly Parton\u2019s best songs to date below. [Ed. note: A shorter version of this list was published prior to Billboard<\/em> writer Chuck Dauphin\u2019s passing<\/a> in 2019.]\n