- She made her first guitar from an old mandolin.
As a child, Dolly built her own guitar using an old mandolin and two bass guitar strings. - She wrote her first song at just 5 years old.
One of her earliest songs was “Little Tiny Tassle Top,” which she wrote around 1951. - Johnny Cash introduced her at the Grand Ole Opry.
Dolly made her Grand Ole Opry debut in 1959. Johnny Cash introduced her, and she reportedly received three encores. - She grew up in extreme poverty.
Dolly was one of 12 children raised by her parents in a small one-room cabin in Tennessee. - Her family reportedly paid her birth doctor with food.
According to Ripley’s, Dolly’s family was so poor that they reportedly gave the doctor who delivered her a sack of oatmeal as payment. - She wrote “I Will Always Love You” before Whitney Houston made it famous.
Dolly originally wrote and recorded the song herself. Whitney Houston’s 1992 version later became a worldwide smash hit. - Her childhood inspired one of her biggest charitable efforts.
Dolly created the Imagination Library, a book-gifting program inspired in part by her father, who could not read or write. - The Imagination Library started in just one Tennessee county.
Dolly launched the program in 1995 in her home county. It eventually grew into an international literacy program. - Her book program has distributed hundreds of millions of books.
The Imagination Library reached its **200 millionth book in 2023, showing just how massive the program became. - She became a theme-park owner.
Dollywood opened in East Tennessee in 1985, with Dolly as an investor and namesake. The park helped turn her home region into a major tourist destination. - She was a songwriter before becoming a superstar.
Dolly was writing songs for other performers even before she became one of country music’s biggest stars. - Her first single wasn’t a hit.
“Puppy Love,” which Dolly recorded when she was very young, was released in 1959 but failed to chart. - She has a life-size statue in her hometown area.
A life-size statue of Dolly stands outside the Sevier County Courthouse in Tennessee. - She created the Dollywood Foundation before launching the Imagination Library.
Established in 1988, the foundation initially focused on helping children in her home county succeed academically. - Children can receive dozens of free books through her program.
A child enrolled from birth can receive as many as 60 books through the Imagination Library by the time they reach age five.
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