Dolly Parton may be gone, but her reputation as one of pop’s most revered performers will live gloriously on. Whether singing her own material or putting her own, rhinestone-studded spin on music written by others, the queen of country could express complex emotions with a simple, human touch. Mail music critic ADRIAN THRILLS looks back on her lifetime of song. Adrian Thrills: My Dolly Mixture. Our music critic picks the ten songs that define Dolly Parton's life (pictured in 2014) Coat Of Many Colors (1971)Written on the back of a dry cleaning receipt while Parton was on a tour bus, this autobiographical ballad looks back lovingly on her humble childhood in rural Tennessee, and the coat that her mother, Avie Lee, stitched together from rags given to the family. ‘Now I know we had no money, but I was rich as I could be,’ she sings. ‘In my coat of many colours my momma made for me.’Jolene (1973)Based on the true story of how a flirtatious redhead – a bank clerk – appeared to take an interest in Dolly’s husband Carl Dean, Jolene is a true Nashville standard. Chip Young’s finger-picked guitar sets the perfect tone for Parton’s yearning vocals, while the song’s beauty lies in its ambiguity: it’s never fully clear if the ‘other’ woman really intends to steal her man.I Will Always Love You (1974)Inspired by Dolly’s professional break from her original business partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, Parton’s ‘little country song’ was transformed into one of pop’s greatest power ballads thanks to Whitney Houston’s all-conquering 1992 cover version. Dolly’s original take is softer than Whitney’s gale-force interpretation but no less heart-wrenching for that.9 To 5 (1980)Written for the soundtrack of the 1980 comedy film in which Dolly made her big screen debut alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, this country-soul single was a joyful celebration of working women – and a classy retort to 1980s office sexism. Dolly came up with the distinctive, typewriter-like sound that opens the song by tapping her acrylic nails. Dolly performing live on stage at the Bottom Line club in New York in 1977 Dolly pictured performing in 1983 when Islands In The Stream was released Islands In The Stream (1983)As she showed on this Motown-inspired duet with fellow country legend Kenny Rogers, Dolly was a great collaborator. Written by The Bee Gees, and named after an Ernest Hemingway novel, the romantic track was originally intended for Diana Ross – and possibly even Marvin Gaye – but Dolly and Kenny turned it into polished, soft-rock gold.The Grass Is Blue (1999)As her appeal to mainstream pop audiences began to fade in the 1990s, Dolly went back to Tennessee mountain basics on the title track to the first of three fabulous bluegrass and folk albums released between 1999 and 2002. ‘The sky is green, and the grass is blue... and I don’t love you,’ she sang, her songwriting talent still in full bloom.Pure And Simple (2016)Still a Backwoods Barbie at heart, she continued in a traditional vein on the lilting title track to her 2016 album: a lullaby, adorned with mandolin and pedal steel guitar. The stripped-back album was inspired by some gigs she played with an acoustic quartet the previous year. ‘I may not be pure, but I’m as simple as they come,’ she quipped (although we know otherwise).Big Dreams And Faded Jeans (2022)Busy bee Dolly showed no sign of letting up in the lockdown era. Not only did she make a kitsch Christmas record and help to fund the Moderna coronavirus vaccine, but she also wrote a novel and made a concept album – both called Run, Rose, Run – telling the tale of an aspiring female country singer. Big Dreams And Faded Jeans was one of the highlights. Dolly attending the Dolly Parton Rockstar Album Press Conference in London in 2023 Dolly pictured with her god daughter Miley Cyrus at their New Years Eve Party concert in 2022World On Fire (2023)Parton was famously apolitical, a key factor in her appeal, but she did make her feelings on climate change clear on this torrid folk-rock track from her guitar-powered Rockstar album. ‘Liar, liar, the world’s on fire,’ she cautioned. ‘What you gonna do when it all burns down?’ The album contained duets with Stevie Nicks, Elton John, Paul McCartney and her goddaughter Miley Cyrus.Smoky Mountain DNA (2024)Dolly returned one last time to old-timey bluegrass and country on what sadly transpired to be her final album (although there’s bound to be plenty of material in the vaults). Made with members of her extended family, its title track was a rollicking banjo tune. ‘I know my true identity,’ sang Parton. Of that, there could be no doubt.