This week we’ve heard the news that Dolly Parton – legend and icon – has sadly passed away at the age of 80.
She was a beacon of positivity for humans everywhere, so we wanted to take a moment to celebrate three things that form part of her legacy: money, giving and positivity.
Dolly and the rich man’s game
After more than a decade of hit country songs, Dolly wrote 9 to 5 for the hit movie of the same name. The movie – and specifically song – called out misogyny in the workplace, with one notable line “It’s a rich man’s game no matter what they call it, And you spend your life puttin’ money in his wallet”.
Thankfully, Dolly put plenty of money in her own pocket too.
At the time of her death, Forbes estimated Dolly’s net worth at around $450 million (roughly £335 million), though some outlets have cited figures as high as $650 million when factoring in the full value of her business empire.
Her wealth came from three main sources:
- her 50% stake in Dollywood, the theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, which most reports say made up the bulk of her fortune
- her music catalogue of more than 3,000 songs including “I Will Always Love You”, “Jolene” and of course “9 to 5”
- a diversified portfolio of publishing, acting, and business ventures, including books co-written with James Patterson and children’s literature
Dolly Parton’s net worth was entirely self-made, built from a childhood in rural poverty in the Smoky Mountains.
It’s well reported that Dolly could indeed have become a billionaire had she not been so generous – a benefit of wealth that really doesn’t get spoken about a lot. The more money women have, the more they can give to causes that matter to women and girls, and the bigger the legacy they leave behind. The world helped the right person get rich when it came to Dolly.
Dolly the philanthropist
Dolly gave away millions of dollars to charitable causes.
Her most well-known philanthropic initiative was the Imagination Library, which sends a free, age-appropriate book every month to enrolled children from birth to age five, regardless of family income. By the time of her death it had expanded to over 1,800 communities across the US, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and the UK, having distributed more than 100 million books by 2018 and continuing at a rate of roughly 1.3 million books a month.
She also donated millions of dollars to other causes such as a high school buddy programme, a children’s cancer programme and early stage COVID vaccine research (she also famously received the vaccine live on TV).
The more money she made, the more she gave, and always to causes that focussed on the health and wellbeing of children no matter what their background.
Dolly’s positivity
Along with her timeless musical classics and her generous giving, Dolly’s words will forever be a part of her legacy. Here are a few to carry with you, in case you or someone you love could do with them right now.
“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”
“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”
“You have to work at being happy. Some people work at being miserable. If I wake up in the morning and don’t feel great or things are not great, I try to think about what I can do to make things work better, rather than just falling into that deep hole, because then you just go deeper and deeper.”
“If you see someone without a smile today, give ’em yours.”
“Don’t get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.”
“You’ll never do a whole lot unless you’re brave enough to try.”
“Above everything else I’ve done, I’ve always said I’ve had more guts than I’ve got talent.”
Dolly played the rich man’s game, won it, and still gave millions of it away. Which of her lines are you taking with you?
