Dolly Parton: Dolly Parton spent nearly six decades building one of music's most collaborative careers. She died on Aug. 25. Her catalog tells the story.
Parton once summed up a 2025 pairing with Dolly-approved humor. She and Sabrina Carpenter teamed up on a remix of "Please Please Please."
Parton captioned the collaboration by joking that they were both "little" and "blonde" and loved each other.
The song had already topped the Billboard Hot 100 in its solo version. The remix climbed into the top 20 on Hot Country Songs.
Most of Parton's duet partners looked nothing alike. But the affection was constant.
Over more than 50 years, she charted with more than 60 different collaborators across country, bluegrass, dance, R&B, hip-hop and rock.
Her first chart entry came with "Dumb Blonde," which reached No. 64 on Hot Country Songs in the Jan. 21, 1967, issue.
That December, her first duet appeared: "The Last Thing on My Mind," with Porter Wagoner. It became her first top 10 hit, peaking at No. 7 in February 1968.
Her final new charted recording arrived just months before her death. "Son of Jolene," a duet with rising artist Belles, hit the country sales chart in May.
Billboard has compiled 25 standout partnerships from Parton's career. Here they are.
Porter Wagoner
Wagoner and Parton scored 13 top-10 hits on Hot Country Songs. Their partnership grew out of her run on "The Porter Wagoner Show" from 1967 to 1974.
Their biggest hit, "Please Don't Stop Loving Me," reached No. 1 in October 1974.
Wagoner also inspired one of Parton's most famous songs. She wrote "I Will Always Love You" as a farewell message when she left his show. She later said the song wouldn't exist without him.
Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson & Brenda Lee
This foursome reached No. 4 on Top Country Albums in 1983 with "…The Winning Hand."
Kenny Rogers
Parton first topped the Hot 100 on her own with "9 to 5" in 1981. She returned to the top spot soon after with Rogers on "Islands in the Stream," a song written by the Bee Gees. It remains her most enduring duet.
The pair recorded several other hits together, including the 1984 holiday song "A Christmas To Remember," the 1985 chart-topper "Real Love" and 2013's "You Can't Make Old Friends."
Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris
The trio's self-titled album gave Parton her first top-10 entry on the all-genre Billboard 200, peaking at No. 6 in 1987.
It also topped Top Country Albums and produced the No. 1 single "To Know Him Is To Love Him," a remake of a 1958 hit by The Teddy Bears.
The album won a Grammy for best country vocal performance by a duo or group in 1988.
A sequel, "Trio II," reached No. 4 on Top Country Albums in 1999. Its cover of Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush" won a Grammy for best country vocal collaboration in 2000.
Smokey Robinson
Parton and the Motown legend's "I Know You by Heart" hit No. 22 on the Adult Contemporary chart in spring 1988.
Ricky Van Shelton
"Rockin' Years" gave Parton her 24th Hot Country Songs No. 1 in 1991. It was her most recent solo-led chart-topper.
"Romeo" and Friends
Parton wrote and led "Romeo" solo, joined by Mary Chapin Carpenter, Kathy Mattea, Pam Tillis, Tanya Tucker and Billy Ray Cyrus.
Billboard's country chart manager at the time, Lynn Shults, called it an "event record" in the magazine's Feb. 6, 1993, issue.
The song gently poked fun at Cyrus, who had broken out the year before with "Achy Breaky Heart." "Romeo" reached No. 27 on Hot Country Songs that March.
Vince Gill
Parton took "I Will Always Love You" to No. 1 twice on her own, first in 1974 and again in 1982. A third version, a duet with Gill, reached No. 15 in 1995.
Gill later remembered their harmony on the song at the 1995 CMA Awards as one of the most beautiful sounds he'd ever heard.
Rod Stewart
Stewart and Parton's version of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" reached No. 2 on Adult Contemporary during the 2004 holiday season.
Parton scored another AC top-10 holiday duet years later with Michael Bublé on "Cuddle Up, Cozy Down Christmas," which hit No. 10 in 2020.
Brad Paisley
Parton's feature on Paisley's "When I Get Where I'm Going" gave her a record 25th Hot Country Songs No. 1 — the most by any woman. The song led the chart for a week in March 2006.
Queen Latifah
Parton and Queen Latifah appeared together on two gospel chart entries in 2012: "He's Everything" and "Higher Medley."
The two also joined Lainey Wilson, Miley Cyrus and Reba McEntire for a new version of Parton's 1977 song "Light of a Clear Blue Morning." It topped Country Digital Song Sales this past January.
Pentatonix
Three versions of "Jolene" have reached the Hot Country Songs top 20. Parton's original led the chart for a week in 1974.
Pentatonix's rendition, featuring Parton, hit No. 16 in 2016 and won a Grammy in 2017 for best country duo/group performance. Beyoncé's 2024 cover later reached No. 3.
Galantis & Mr. Probz
The trio's "Faith," built on John Hiatt's "Have a Little Faith in Me," topped Dance Airplay in 2019.
Jimmy Fallon
Parton and Fallon released two holiday chart entries: a cover of Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" in 2020, and "Almost Too Early for Christmas" in 2022.
Randy Parton
Parton's brother Randy joined her, along with his daughter Heidi, on "You Are My Christmas," a 2020 holiday sales chart hit. It's her only chart entry with a family member.
Reba McEntire
Beyond their "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" collaboration, Parton and McEntire reached Hot Country Songs in 2021 with "Does He Love You." McEntire had first taken the song to No. 1 in 1993 as a duet with Linda Davis.
Kelly Clarkson
A ballad version of "9 to 5" with Clarkson hit No. 15 on Digital Song Sales in 2022. The song accompanied the documentary "Still Working 9 to 5," which examined workplace equality since the 1981 film starring Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.
Belinda Carlisle, Cyndi Lauper, Gloria Estefan & Debbie Harry
"Gonna Be You," written by Diane Warren, appeared in the 2023 film "80 for Brady." The five-artist collaboration reached Digital Song Sales that year.
Miley Cyrus
Parton's goddaughter joined her on several tracks, including a 2023 update of Cyrus' 2013 hit "Wrecking Ball," which reached country and rock sales charts.
Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr
Parton's cover of The Beatles' "Let It Be," from her 2023 album "Rockstar," featured both surviving Beatles.
It marked the first charted collaboration between the two solo artists and reached No. 22 on Digital Song Sales that September.
Pitbull
"Powerful Women," another reimagining of "9 to 5," reached No. 2 on Billboard's Rap Digital Song Sales chart in April 2024.
Beyoncé
Beyoncé featured Parton on "Tyrant," from the album "Cowboy Carter." The song hit No. 12 on Hot Country Songs and No. 18 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs — Parton's first appearance on that chart.
Post Malone
Post Malone's "Have the Heart," featuring Parton, reached No. 22 on Hot Country Songs in 2024.
It's from his country album "F-1 Trillion," which debuted at No. 1 on both the Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums.
Sabrina Carpenter
Their "Please Please Please" remix appeared on Carpenter's album "Short n' Sweet."
It gave Parton her second top-20 Hot Country Songs hit of the decade, a feat she hadn't matched since the 1990s.
Belles
Parton's final charted collaboration, "Son of Jolene," is currently gaining traction at country radio.
Belles, who co-wrote and recorded the track with Parton, called the experience a defining moment in her career and credited Parton with helping her believe in herself as an artist.
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