With over 50 years in the industry, Dolly Parton has become an international music icon whose admirers frequent the theme park created as a testament to her larger-than-life persona. This once chipper country starlet seized all of our hearts and packed our souls with her marvelous music, enough to be deemed a legend.

But even though she’s already become such a massive name today, there are still some things about this Backwoods Barbie that most people don’t know. So, we have dug deep to tell you about Dolly Parton’s story with the most fascinating facts that only the most dedicated fan would know!

She's Written Over 5,000 Songs Since She Was Seven Years Old

Songwriting has always been Dolly’s first love, singing only came in a close second. She’s been making songs since she was seven years old, with her first one being all about her corn-cob doll. Puppy Love was the first song that she recorded at 13, which means Dolly has been creating music for over five decades now.

Parton composes her songs the traditional way⁠—with paper and pen. She also tries to draft music as often as possible, especially when inspiration hits her. To date, she’s created approximately 5,000 songs counting from the first one she’s ever made. It’s amazing how she earns her money through her passion!

Born Thanks To A Sack Of Oatmeal

Speaking of giving life, Dolly Parton was actually born in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. It was January 19, 1946, when the pregnant belly of her mom produced Dolly. She was the fourth child out of what would soon be 12 kids.

Since skyrocketing to stardom, the Tennessee Homesick Blues songstress has never shied away from sharing her tough beginnings. They were a meager family, and her father’s main source of income was from tobacco-farming. Because they were so poor, the doctor was only paid with a sack of oatmeal for helping bring her to this world. It was all they could afford!

Her Three Toes Had To Be Sewed Back On

During her childhood, Dolly's family just didn’t have the money to visit the hospital. So, when she got herself into an accident as a kid, her mom didn’t have a choice but to play doctor. This wasn’t any minor mishap, though. It almost cost the star three of her toes.

As Dolly recalled, her dad and brothers held her down. Kerosene was put on her injuries to sterilize them before her mom literally sewed her toes back on with her sewing needles. Believe it or not, it worked! All her three toes healed sufficiently that she’s still able to walk with them on to this day.

Johnny Cash Was Her First Crush

At 13, Dolly’s talent was already evident. Plus, she had luck on her side. At this age, she was already given a chance to sing at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. It was the first time the then-high school gal, Dolly, saw her all-time crush, Johnny Cash, perform live.

Years later, she forged a friendly relationship with Johnny, who became somebody special because of his support for her career. Cash also gave her wise advice by telling her to always follow her instincts and to never relinquish her dreams. I Walk the Line is one of Parton’s much-beloved songs of his.

The Ku Klux Klan Sent Her Death Threats

While Dolly tries to stay apolitical, she has always spoken her mind about certain social issues. In 2014, she publicly supported gay marriage which, at those times, was still unlawful in her hometown, Tennessee. But before that, this choice of hers as already gotten her in trouble.

During the mid-2000s, Dollywood, which we’ll tell you more about later on, united with other family theme parks to contribute to Gay Days. They encouraged LGBT members and their families to have fun together in an open-hearted community setting. This provoked the Ku Klux Klan, but their coercion didn't jolt Dolly’s well-being. According to her, she still gets death threats every now and then.

She's Given Away Over 100 Million Books Worldwide

With the aim to boost literacy in Tennessee, her native state, she established Dolly Parton's Imagination Library in 1995. Through the years, it has grown not just in the United States but also to places like the Republic of Ireland, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia!

The program, which is a part of the Dollywood Foundation, now sends age-appropriate books to around 850K children across the globe every month. In February 2018, Dolly donated her 100 millionth book, a print of her kid's picture book Coat of Many Colors, to Washington D.C.’s Library of Congress.

Plastic Surgery Is No Big Deal To Her

Unlike many celebrities, Dolly Parton has never denied her experience with going under the knife. In fact, she’s quite open about it. According to her, there’s some magic in being totally real while looking a bit artificial all at once. She's just unashamed of not being all that natural!

The Jolene singer once detailed that if she ever sees a part of her that’s sagging or dragging, then she won’t think twice about getting it nipped, sucked, or tucked. Because of her disposition, Parton has had breast implants, a face lift, brow lift, eyelid surgery, neck lift, chin augmentation, and a nose job.

She Has Insured Her Body

Parton’s enviable figure may not be 100% natural, but she knows what she wants and we have to hand that to her. After all, it’s her body and she can do whatever she wants with it. And if she wants to have her 40DD bust insured for $600K, she can do that too⁠—and she has!

We’re just not sure if she already had plastic surgery done when she was featured on a well-known gentlemen's magazine as a cover girl in 1978. Now, if you think you’ll see her in her without clothes, then you’re mistaken. She decided to don a bunny costume for the cover, and that’s all people will ever get.

No Stranger To Wardrobe Malfunctions

When it comes to clothing, Dolly is recognized for her snug and revealing outfits. Whenever she’s on tour, she really stays on a low-carb diet to certify that she can squeeze into her body-hugging performance attires. But with such skin-tight outfits, having wardrobe malfunctions is inevitable.

Dolly experienced her costume bursting open right on stage for a Good Morning America guest appearance in 2009. She also had one of her very tight beaded dresses pop open halfway through a song number in Dollywood⁠! Good thing her background singer came to the rescue. The kind gentleman got a guitar against Dolly’s dress before she backed up off stage to change. Oops!

 Never Sleeps In Hotels On Tour

Although she surely has enough money to stay in luxury hotels while on tour, Parton prefers not to. Quite surprising for a superstar like her, eh? As much as she would want to, she just loathes packing and unpacking all her stuff. This is why she finds it more comfortable to have a home on wheels.

It doesn’t hurt that Dolly’s tour bus is quite fancy, complete with all the amenities that one can ever need on the road. The automobile may even be more lavish than some top lodgings. It has two beds, two baths and a kitchen stocked full with super yummy Southern food.

Can't Ever Force Her To Ride The Rides In Dollywood

Dolly is ingenious in the art of expanding her reach. She has made many investments in businesses, and one of them is Dollywood of the Great Smoky Mountains. Parton has co-owned this amusement park, which has a wide array of attractions for every age, since 1986.

Although it sounds crazy, the 73-year-old has never ridden the rides at her own theme park! She refuses to⁠—not because they’re not enjoyable, but because she’s frightened of roller coasters. Even if she wanted to, her motion sickness would’ve just gotten in the way of having fun. And let's be honest, who would ever want to get puked on anyway (even by Dolly Parton)?

Her Hometown Honored Her With A Statue

A spitting distance away from Dollywood is the place where Dolly grew up⁠—Sevierville, Tennessee. Because of her business ventures and charity works, she has stimulated the over-all tourism of her home town and has given back a lot to it. Her efforts hadn’t gone unnoticed, though.

Sevierville citizens returned the gratitude with a Dolly Parton life-sized bronze statue that sits barefoot with a bright smile and a guitar at hand. It’s placed right outside their county courthouse. The monument was crafted by a local artist named Jim Gray in 1987. And today, it’s the most famous spot on the walking tour of Sevierville.

She Spent A Fortune To Restore Her Childhood Home

Dolly and her 11 siblings grew up in a tiny dwelling in the Tennessee mountains. It didn’t have electricity nor indoor plumbing. In fact, they used to catch fireflies with mason jars to light their room! When Parton purchased the property, she employed her brother Bobby to renovate it.

Dolly wanted the small house to look like how it did when they were still kids. However, she wanted the functionality to be there too. So, the celebrity splurged a few million dollars just to make it appear like she only paid $50 for it! She even made the lavatory look like an al fresco latrine. Oh, Dolly!

Dolly, The First Cloned Sheep

We’re not calling Dolly Parton a sheep, okay? The first ever successfully cloned sheep was actually named after the country superstar when scientists were finally able to create a clone from the DNA of a mature mammal’s somatic cell in 1996. What an honor, right?

The truth behind naming it after Parton is amusing. They didn’t do it because of her radical career but because of her legendary bust line! Ian Wilmut, an English embryologist, shared that Dolly, the cloned sheep, was created from mammary gland cells and Dolly Parton's just had the most impressive pair out there.

Some Of Her Siblings Worked In The Music Industry As Well

Dolly was constantly surrounded by music as a kid. Her mom used to sing and play the guitar as well. This was jotted down on Parton’s Library of Congress memoir. According to her, everyone around her played either mandolins, fiddles, guitars, or banjos, which somehow served as a musical inheritance.

She, along with her siblings, had gotten so used to having all those musical instruments within arm’s reach that Parton established an extraordinary affinity to playing the banjo. That part of their childhood paid off since Parton’s younger sibling Stella is also a singer, and some of their brothers and sisters made it into the entertainment industry as well.

The Godmother Of Miley Cyrus

Dolly already knew actress-singer Miley Cyrus since she was just a baby. When her friend, Billy Ray Cyrus, asked her to be his daughter Miley’s honorary godmother when she was born, Dolly didn’t even bat an eye in accepting the honor. Parton also got the opportunity to play Aunt Dolly on Hannah Montana, Miley’s Disney Channel show.

When asked about her goddaughter’s obscenities in 2014⁠—when the Wrecking Ball songstress was wilder than she is lately, Dolly warranted Miley's actions as any good godparent would. According to her, Miley is a smart and talented girl who just wanted to be herself when no one would let her.

Turned Down the King of Rock 'n Roll, Elvis

Whether you're a huge Dolly Parton fan or not, you’ve probably already listened to her big hit titled I Will Always Love You. However, you may not know that Elvis Presley also wanted to record a version of it himself. And here’s what’s even more shocking: she turned him down!

After Parton released the song, Elvis' manager contacted her so that the King of Rock 'n Roll can cover it. Giving up half of the song’s publishing rights was part of the deal they were trying to make, though. So, she listened to her gut and declined, even without consulting a lawyer. Eventually, Whitney Houston’s rendition made it a bigger hit in 1992.

Almost Always Dressed In Long-Sleeved Outfits

Even in the onset of Dolly Parton’s career, it’s very unusual to see her displaying her arms while performing. Think about it. When have you ever seen her in an outfit with no sleeves? This can be surprising since Dolly is thought of as a bombshell with blonde hair, but she rarely shows a lot of skin.

This is why rumors have traveled around if The Bargain Store songstress is hiding many things under her choice of clothing — specifically, tattoos. In 2014, Parton came clean in Today to put an end to all the gossiping. According to her, she has tattoos, but they’re not all located on her arms.

She Is A Tattooed Woman

Dolly Parton does have a few tattoos, as we now know. However, they were mostly done to cover a few scars. The Sweet Summer Lovin crooner also admitted that some of the small tattoos are for her dearest husband.

In 2012, some of her fans claimed they had discovered a secret ink of hers: a flower⁠, specifically a rose, on her chest. When Dolly was interviewed by Anderson Cooper, she really showed some cleavage just to prove it isn’t true. At present, she is still keeping her lips shut about the locations of her tattoos.

Dolly Parton Eloped With Her Husband

The 18-year-old Dolly Parton was right outside Nashville’s Wishy Washy laundromat when she caught the attention of a 21-year-old Carl Thomas Dean while he was on his white pickup truck. It was Parton’s first day at the Music City. Sounds like the story of a great country love song or movie, right?

Fast forward to two years later, Parton and Dean had their wedding in 1966 at a Ringgold, Georgia church. The couple chose to elope because Monument, her record label, was concerned that getting married would hinder Dolly’s music career. They wanted her to think things through first. But obviously, she wasn’t having any of that!

A Bank Teller Was Behind Jolene

Dolly came out with one of her biggest hits in 1973 – Jolene. On the song, the country icon is singing about confronting a gorgeous ginger-haired bank teller named Jolene. In it, she’s certain that this woman is having an affair with her husband. This track is arguably one of her most adored songs.

Parton herself fed the rumor mill when she told her fans at some of her earlier shows that she stopped Dean from spending too much time at the bank. Whether the story of Jolene is true or not, at least Parton and Dean are still together and have recently celebrated their 52nd wedding anniversary together.

Her Explanation For Why She's Never Had Kids Is Really Sweet

Dolly used to feel remorseful for not giving birth to a child. But now, that’s not the case anymore. The Travelin' Thru singer and her husband now have a closer relationship with the younger members of their family and Dolly's famous goddaughter, Miley Cyrus.

Kids are naturally drawn to Dolly because of her high-pitched voice anyway. Her work with children through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library also keeps her closer to kids, too. She now believes that God has everything planned out. Even though she doesn’t have children, she’s now become everyone’s mom instead.

The Wig Room

Everybody knows that Dolly Parton has a big love for wigs since she’s rocked the most fabulous ones since 1973. That’s how her strands stay picture-perfect all the time. Her marvelous mane is not her real hair! Despite this fact, it's still surprising to find out that she has dedicated a room especially for her wigs

The Dumb Blonde singer has a dresser that carries every show wig she’s ever had. Whenever she travels on tour, she brings this cabinet along with Cheryl Riddle, her hairdresser, with her. Parton even joked about having 365 wigs in total, one intended for every day of the year.

She Failed To Win A Dolly Parton Look-alike Competition

Would you believe that Dolly Parton herself once lost a Dolly Parton lookalike contest that she joined in Santa Monica Boulevard? This allegedly happened on Halloween, and the participants were all male. So why did she lose? Well, in an attempt to over-exaggerate her appearance, she barely looked like herself anymore.

Now, what we’re curious about is how she disguised her voice because that would’ve easily given her away. She once disguised herself with a short black wig and a different style of clothes and makeup when she went out Christmas shopping, and a group of kids still knew it was her!

Heartstrings: Coming Out On Netflix!

Netflix, the streaming TV service provider, will be premiering an eight-episode Dolly Parton series this 2019 titled Heartstrings. Each episode of the anthology will give emphasis to one of her beloved songs and will be showcasing the memories, inspiration, and stories behind them.

This is a project that the country music icon, Dolly, has wanted to do for the longest time. And aside from being its executive producer, she will also make a few appearances on the show. According to her website, they are hoping that the series will be both inspiring and entertaining to everyone who will watch it, whatever generation they belong to.