Stella Parton

Stella Parton, Dolly Parton’s younger sister, achieved several charting successes of her own in the second half of the 1970s. Born in Sevier County, Kentucky, in 1949, she made her first television appearance at age seven alongside Dolly on a local Knoxville program. Two years afterward came her radio debut, after which she joined two other Parton sisters in a vocal trio that performed both gospel material and advertising jingles throughout eastern Tennessee. While still in high school she began composing her own songs, yet she married and became pregnant with her first child before receiving her diploma. Following an extended break from music, she founded the independent Country Soul label in 1975 and issued the album I Want to Hold You in My Dreams Tonight. The title song became a notable national success, reaching the country Top Ten and prompting a 1976 contract with Elektra. Her 1977 duet with Carmol Taylor, “Neon Woman,” enjoyed modest traction, and between 1977 and 1978 she placed three additional singles in the country Top 20: “The Danger of a Stranger,” “Four Little Letters,” and “Standard Lie Number One.” She completed three albums for Elektra by the end of 1979, after which she moved to smaller labels and recorded only intermittently throughout the 1980s. Minor chart entries appeared in 1982 and 1989, but most of that decade was devoted to stage work, including Broadway roles in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. She also created and staged productions for her sister’s Dollywood theme park and, in the early 1990s, released a Southern cookbook.