August 26, 2026 — 12:55pmPhilanthropist, businesswoman, literacy advocate: Dolly Parton was so much more than a titan of the music industry. Rather, she was a woman who wore many hats atop her glorious wigs.Behind the rhinestones and high heels lay a generosity largely unmatched. The country star’s philanthropy spanned from education to COVID-19 vaccination research, helping save numerous lives in more ways than one. With no political motivation nor hint of the performative, the singer’s penchant for giving is arguably the greatest legacy she leaves behind.The singer performing at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena in 2011.Rebecca HallasSo, while her songs, fringed jumpsuits and unrivalled wit made her a star, everything she did off the stage made her a true role model – our very own bedazzled angel on earth.The businesswomanIn Parton’s 1966 track Dumb Blonde, she famously sang: “Don’t think I’m dumb/’cause this dumb blonde ain’t nobody’s fool.” Few words could be truer when it came to the country legend, who will go down in history as one of the savviest businesswomen within the music industry and beyond.Last year, Forbes estimated Parton’s net worth to be about $US450 million ($629 million). She earned a good portion of this from her co-ownership of The Dollywood Company, of which she owned 50 per cent alongside Jack and Pete Herschend. Formed in 1985, the company (which derived its name from the famed singer) owns the popular Dollywood theme park, water parks and other resort properties in Parton’s home of Tennessee. According to Forbes, these attractions were valued about $US165 million in 2021.Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin (left) and Jane Fonda in the hit 1980 film 9 to 5.20th Century Fox Less surprisingly, Parton’s business savvy also extended to cosmetics and perfume. Following a successful fragrance line in 2021, she launched Dolly Beauty as a joint venture with Scent Beauty in 2024. Well aware of her loyal fan base, she named one of her first lipstick shades “Jolene Red”, helping them fly off the shelves.Despite the overload of celebrity make-up lines around these days, Parton told People she always knew hers would be successful. Why? “Because it’s mine,” she said at the time.The music mogulParton’s business acumen followed her into studios and on stages. The singer famously owned her entire music publishing catalogue from the start, allowing her control over her own songs. At just 20, she began her own publishing company with her uncle, and though she eventually partnered with other major companies like Sony/ATV Music Publishing, she always retained foundational control and credit.Parton at her Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, in 2024.AP PhotoIn fact, Parton even turned down the king of rock ‘n’ roll himself, Elvis Presley. He reportedly wanted to cover Parton’s hit track I Will Always Love You, but his manager asked for half of the publishing rights. Parton therefore rejected the request.She wasn’t precious about her catalogue, though. In 1992, she allowed Whitney Houston to cover I Will Always Love You for the film The Bodyguard. That cover went on to become the biggest-selling single by a female artist in history, earning an estimated $US10 million in the 1990s. Clearly, she had a vision for the track, and it paid off.The literacy advocateParton said she always loved children, and she frequently put her words into action.In 1995, she launched The Imagination Library in Sevier County, Tennessee. The organisation provided free books to young children whose families could not afford them, and it operated as a tribute to Parton’s father Robert Lee who could neither read nor write. It also drew from her profound understanding of growing up poor, having been born in a one-room cabin in Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains.“If you can read, you can self-educate yourself, and you’re just lost if you can’t,” Parton told Good Morning America in 2021.The Imagination Library expanded throughout the US, and then into Canada, the UK, Ireland and Australia, posting free books once a month to children up to the age of five. It reportedly became the largest early childhood book-gifting program worldwide, delivering more than 300 million books since 1995. By the time of her death, more than 3 million children were receiving books each month.But Parton didn’t just stop there; she went above and beyond. When the organisation reached a million books per month in 2016, she gifted a two-year-old a $US30,000 scholarship.The philanthropistBeyond The Imagination Library, Parton also became deeply involved in reducing high school drop-out rates in the US. The Dollywood Foundation was launched in 1988, offering seventh and eight grade students $US500 if they completed high school. This led to the Dolly Parton Scholarship in 2000, which awarded $US15,000 to five high school seniors from her home of Sevier County who wished to carry out tertiary education.These efforts helped earn her the National Education Association’s highest honour in 2022.Her philanthropy even extended to those working within the foundation itself, as Parton – along with operating partner Herschend Enterprises – promised in 2022 to pay 100 per cent of the educational expenses of any interested Dollywood employees.The singer’s donations didn’t just help improve lives, they also helped save them. In 2020, Parton gave $US1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Centre for COVID-19 vaccine research. Many claim this money helped fund the critical early stages of the development of the Moderna vaccine.That same year, Parton donated another $US1 million to the medical centre to support pediatric infectious disease research, including that which looked into antibiotic resistance and the diagnosis and treatment of infections in children with cancer.Two years later, she was awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, a title that recognises people who dedicate their private wealth to the public good.Further, Parton lent a hand during extreme emergencies, such as in the aftermath of natural disasters. She led fundraising telethons in the wake of the devastating Tennessee wildfires in 2016, donated millions to the Salvation Army, and offered funds after Hurricane Helene in 2021.Even animals received her care. Parton’s foundation launched the Eagle Mountain Sanctuary, which collaborated with the American Eagle Foundation to help protect bald eagles.In honour of her decades-long dedication to philanthropy, Parton was given the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 16th Governors Awards last year. During her acceptance speech, she called it the “blessing of a lifetime”.Despite the millions of dollars she has donated and the countless lives she has improved, Parton never gloated. In 2022, she initially attempted to turn down her spot in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but eventually relented because of her fans. She even turned down Nashville’s offer in 2024 to erect a statue of her on the capitol grounds.“Given all that is going on in the world, I don’t think putting me on a pedestal is appropriate at this time,” she said.Nell Geraets is a Culture reporter at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners