Dolly Parton was the most honored and revered female singer-songwriter of all time. She garnered eleven Grammy Awards and fifty-five nominations, including the Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1999, Parton was inducted into the coveted Country Music Hall of Fame, and in 2022, she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. She was the author of multiple bestselling books, including Songteller; Run, Rose, Run (with James Patterson); Behind the Seams; Good Lookin’ Cookin’; Star of the Show; the Billy the Kid series; and Coat of Many Colors, based on her hit song. In her lifetime, Parton donated over 300 million books to children around the world with her Imagination Library.
Tom Roland is the editor of the Billboard Country Update and founder of the country music database RolandNote. He’s authored two books, The Billboard Book of #1 Country Hits and Beautiful Mess: The Story of Diamond Rio, and has written for The Tennessean, The Hollywood Reporter, The Orange County Register, and Westwood One, winning the CMA Media Achievement Award in 2018.