Dolly Parton Net Worth

How much is Dolly Parton worth now?

Net Worth:$425 Million
Profession:Professional Singer
Date of Birth:January 19, 1946 (age 77)
Country:United States of America
Height:
4 ft 11 in (1.52 m)

About Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton is a singer, songwriter, producer, and actress who is most famous for writing dozens of hit singles primarily in the genre of country music, and to this day is one of the few artists to have ever released singles in every decade since the 60s. She found success in the late sixties with her brand of working class relatability with a Texan drawl. In her legendary career, she has released an incredible fifty albums and 170 singles that included “9 to 5”, “Jolene”, and “Here You Come Again”.

Along with being the most famous country artist of all time, Parton has had a movie career unparalleled to any other musician, starring in huge blockbuster hits at the time, 9 to 5, Steel Magnolias, and The Beverly Hillbillies.

American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, actress, author, businesswoman, and humanitarian Dolly Parton has an estimated net worth of $425 million dollars, as of 2023. Parton is one of the most successful country singers, she’s sold more than a hundred million records worldwide.

Most well known for her music, Dolly Parton became a huge star thanks to the help of country music entertainer, Porter Wagoner, who had a TV show named The Porter Wagoner Show and offered Parton a regular spot on the series. Not long after, she was signed to Wagoner’s label, RCA Victor, first releasing the single. “The Last Thing On My Mind”, which peaked in the top 10 in the country chart. The song sparked an almost uninterrupted six year streak of top 10 singles for Parton.

1974 was the biggest year for the artist as it the first year she found success in her career as a solo artist. As for the years prior, her career was built up of duets with Wagoner as the label didn’t believe Parton could carry a career herself. But in 1974 she released not one, not two, but three singles to peak at number one on the country chart; “Jolene”, “I Will Always Love You”, and “Love Is Like A Butterfly”. The former of which was her first song to enter the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 60.

The single has gone platinum, been relentlessly covered by other artists, and surprisingly performed phenomenally in the UK, finding a wider audience oversees. Though it was first Elvis Presley who wanted to record the track, Parton kept “I Will Always Love You” for herself and it went on to break even more ground when it was covered by Whitney Houston, turning it from a country hit to a legitimate pop song that became popular all over the world.

On top of releasing classic singles and building an intimidating discography of 50 albums, she turned in to somewhat of a movie star in the 1980s when her music career hit its peak. In 1980 she starred in 9 to 5, as well as writing the song of the same name.

The film became a global hit and from a budget of just $10 million, it made an amazing $103.3  million worldwide in 1980. When adjusting for inflation that means the actual revenue in 2022 dollars earned was $352.5 million. Big earnings even for today.

9 to 5 is rated one of the funniest movies ever made by the American Film Institute, and surprisingly became a successful franchise, spawning a TV show, which lasted for five seasons, and a play on Broadway. Her other notable works in film includes Steel Magnolias, in which the musician starred alongside coveted actresses Sally Field and Julia Roberts. Steel Magnolias went on become a critical and financial success, earning a total of $96.8 million worldwide in 1989. That’s the equivalent of  $219.5 today.

Though it may come as a surprise that the singer has only ever had one song to reach number one on the Hot 100 despite having a resounding amount of classics under her belt. Parton has still sold over one hundred millions records. Though her highest charting solo record surprisingly comes from the 2010s. 2014’s Blue Smoke reached number six on the Billboard 200 thanks to a duet with Kenny Rogers. Another notable album signifying her massive financial success is 1993’s Eagle When She Flies, which spent an amazing 73 weeks on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.

The singer has also released a ridiculous amount of compilation albums, 185 to be exact, with most of them being hugely successful in the UK. But there’s one song that Parton has made the most money from than any other, and it isn’t even recorded by her. The country artist receives most of her royalties from Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”.

In the early 90s, around the time of the song’s release, Parton had already earned over an estimated $10 million from her royalty rights. She invested that money to support a Black neighborhood in Nashville. As that was almost thirty years ago and the song remains as popular as it ever was, still being in syndication on the radio and having over 300 million plays on Spotify, it’s possible that Parton has made close to $75 million from that one song alone.

Along with her Texan drawl and cowgirl persona, there are other reasons why Parton outgrew her peers. Dolly Parton spoke to the working women of America when she released the track “9 to 5”. She gave women a voice, especially in a genre that was predominantly populated by male performers, and as a result became the voice women across the nation.

Not only is she a figure for women to look up to, but she has many songs that are relatable to men too. Parton has even said herself in interviews that the secret to her success is empathy. But there’s another secret to her success, which is often releasing songs alongside movies. In strategically releasing them at the same time, the songs helps promote the movie and the movie helps promote the song, like a well oiled machine. “9 to 5” isn’t the only song she did this with.

Parton also used this clever strategy for The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, Rhinestone, and Straight Talk, composing ten original songs for the movie. And Whitney Houston’s cover of “I Will Always Love You” was prominently featured in the movie The Bodyguard in 1992, helping the track gain further recognition and going on to spend a shocking 14 weeks at number one on the Hot 100 chart. The song has become one of the best selling singles of all time.

Parton’s Total Net Worth

Dolly Parton has earned estimated total career income of $700 million dollars. Parton has sold over 100 million records and earned hundreds of millions of dollars from her tours. Her Better Day World Tour, grossed $34 million dollars in revenue. She has also earned from her Dollywood theme park which reports 3 million visitors per year.

As Parton has lived in the state of Tennessee, and also earned through some high federal tax years, she will have had to pay around 48% in taxes on her career income. Tennessee only became a no income tax state in 2021. After tax, it is estimated that her career earnings are at around $364 million dollars, having paid $336 million dollars in taxes.

Dolly Parton married Carl Thomas Dean in 1966 and they remain together. While they have no children, Parton has still likely spent $20-25 million dollars of her career earnings, including her donations. She will have also earned $100 million dollars from her investments and likely had to pay around $14-16 million dollars in business related costs. Therefore, it is estimated that Dolly Parton has a net worth of around $425 million dollars.

Summing-Up

Thanks to her talents in many different arts, Parton is one of a very few number of people to have had at least one nomination at the Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, Tony Awards, and Emmy Awards, and over twenty years ago she was inducted in to the Country Music Hall of Fame, along with the likes of Conway Twitty and Johnny Bond.

Due to her non-stop hard work and constantly releasing music (Parton has recorded over 3000 songs), starring in movies and TV shows, Dolly Parton has an estimated net worth of $425 million. Even now, she is still releasing music, she released “When Life Is Good Again” in 2020, a country pop song about the COVID-19 pandemic.

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