Country music legend Dolly Rebecca Parton was born on 19 January 1946 in a one-room cabin in the town of Pittman Center, Tennessee. She is 78 years old.
She is a singer-songwriter, actor and philanthropist with 11 Grammy Awards to her name, famous for hit songs including ‘Jolene’ and ‘9 to 5’.
Dolly Parton’s parents were Robert Lee Parton Snr (1921-2000) and Avie Lee Caroline (née Owens, 1923–2003). She has eleven siblings.
Dolly Parton’s middle name, Rebecca, comes from her 2x great grandmother Rebecca Dunn (1861-1930). Her family lived in Tennessee for generations, and she also has ancestors from the American states of North Carolina, Alabama, Virginia and Pennsylvania. She has English ancestry, as her 4x great grandfather Alexander Dixon was born in England in 1792, and German ancestry, as her 5x great grandparents were Johann Philipp Emmert, born in Neckarelz, Baden, c.1704 and Maria Catherina Kamm, born in Eppingen, Baden, in 1713.
She may also have Welsh ancestry. She told Wales Online in 2009: “Some of my mother’s people, the Owens, are from Wales.”
Dolly Parton’s niece, Jada Star, told The Sun recently that her aunt has researched her Welsh ancestry for a four-part TV series to be broadcast in 2025.