The separation initially proved difficult for Ms. Parton, both emotionally and financially, but it also opened doors to new opportunities like the chance to host her own TV show. She was named female artist of the year by the Country Music Association in each of the first two years (1975 and 1976) after her break with Mr. Wagoner.
Embracing a more pop approach than she had earlier in her career, Ms. Parton continued her ascendance on the charts in the late ’70s with blockbuster hits like “Here You Come Again” and “Heartbreaker.” Both were No. 1 country singles that crossed over to the pop Top 40. The Country Music Association awarded her its top honor, entertainer of the year, in 1978.
After her 1980 recording of “9 to 5” earned her two Grammy Awards and an Oscar nomination, Ms. Parton turned her attention to movies, TV appearances and the development, in the mid-1980s, of Dollywood, her Smoky Mountain theme park, among other business ventures.
In 1987, she released the first of her two albums with Ms. Ronstadt and Ms. Harris, the platinum-selling “Trio.” She hosted “Saturday Night Live” in 1989 and teamed up with Ms. Lynn and Ms. Wynette to record the album “Honky Tonk Angels” in 1993.
She published her memoir, “Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business,” a New York Times best seller, in 1994. The next year, she established the Imagination Library, a philanthropic endeavor through which more than 200 million books have been distributed to babies and young children. A show about her life, “Dolly: A True Original Musical,” is scheduled to open on Broadway in early 2027.
Endowed with a surfeit of creativity and an unflagging work ethic, Ms. Parton admitted in interviews to sleeping as few as three hours a night. She was nominated for more than 50 Grammy Awards, 10 of which she won, along with being recognized for lifetime achievement by the Recording Academy in 2011.
Ms. Parton was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001, and was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2005. In 2022, she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
But perhaps even more remarkable than the profusion of accolades and awards was Ms. Parton’s unstinting generosity of spirit — her commitment, born of deep religious convictions and an immense heart, to seeing the humanity in all people.
Ms. Parton not only sang the traditional Southern gospel music her mother taught her; she also wrote and sang “Travelin’ Thru,” an Oscar-nominated song from “Transamerica,” the 2005 movie about a transgender woman seeking to connect with her son. In 2017, Ms. Parton collaborated with Miley Cyrus, her goddaughter, to record “Rainbowland,” a tribute to gay pride and liberation.
“You have to accept everything and everybody,” she said in “Songteller,” talking about the lessons to be learned about open-mindedness and inclusion from “Coat of Many Colors.”
Time and again in her career, Ms. Parton reflected on her impoverished upbringing and how she followed her dreams to escape it. “I wanted to be free,” she told Rolling Stone in 1977. “I had my songs to sing, I had an ambition, and it burned inside me.”
She added: “It was something I knew would take me out of the mountains. I knew I could see worlds beyond the Smoky Mountains.”
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