Dolly Parton never forgot her roots — or the people she loved

Name: Dolly Parton's roots, her love for Tennessee and others
Uploaded: 2026-08-26T08:11:04-04:00
Description: Dolly Parton's childhood in Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains remained central to her identity, music and philanthropy throughout her life. But, Georgia held a special place in Parton's story: She married Carl Dean in Ringgold, filmed projects in the state and developed personal connections with fans and journalists in Atlanta. Good Day Atlanta's Paul Milliken talks about the country legend.

Dolly Parton's roots, her love for Tennessee and others

Dolly Parton's childhood in Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains remained central to her identity, music and philanthropy throughout her life. But, Georgia held a special place in Parton's story: She married Carl Dean in Ringgold, filmed projects in the state and developed personal connections with fans and journalists in Atlanta. Good Day Atlanta's Paul Milliken talks about the country legend.

ATLANTA - Dolly Parton became one of the most recognizable entertainers in the world, but no matter how far her career took her, she never seemed very far from the mountains where it began.

What we know:

The music, movies, rhinestones and unmistakable voice made her an international superstar. But Parton's roots in East Tennessee — and the lessons she learned growing up there — helped shape something arguably bigger: a legacy built on family, generosity, kindness and an enduring connection to home.

"It's my home. I was born and raised here," Parton once told FOX 5 Atlanta when asked what continued to inspire her about the Great Smoky Mountains. "I think you never get over where you're born and raised, even if you have a bad experience. But I have a good experience about these mountains. I love these hills."

A Tennessee girl who never forgot home

The backstory:

Parton was born Jan. 19, 1946, in Sevier County, Tennessee, the fourth of 12 children in a close-knit family.

Her mother helped nurture her love of music, while her uncle Bill Owens played an important role in her early songwriting career. Parton often spoke about the influence of her parents and the pride she took in carrying on the family name.

Those beginnings stayed with her even after her career took her far beyond Tennessee.

Her breakthrough came in 1967 when Porter Wagoner invited her to appear on his television program. Hits including "Jolene," "I Will Always Love You" and "Love Is Like a Butterfly" followed, along with crossover successes such as "Here You Come Again" and "9 to 5."

She also became a movie star and businesswoman. In 1986, she entered the theme park business with Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, bringing millions of visitors to the region where she grew up.

For Parton, the mountains weren't simply the setting for her childhood. They remained part of who she was.

During one return to Dollywood, Parton talked about watching childhood dreams come true in the same place where she first imagined them.

"I'm always excited to get to come home to kind of introduce some of my things and see all these dreams come true that I was dreaming when I was a little girl up here in these same mountains," she said.

Success became a way to help others

What we know:

As Parton's career and business empire grew, so did her philanthropy.

Her Imagination Library became one of her most significant legacies, built around providing books to children and encouraging literacy. She also donated $1 million toward research that helped develop a COVID-19 vaccine.

Parton explained her philosophy simply.

"When you're an artist, when you get in a position to do something good, you should, because it's kind of like making you feel like you're not just taking, but you're also giving back," she said.

That approach helped Parton's influence reach people who might never have bought one of her albums or visited Dollywood.

Her career brought major honors, including Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, a Kennedy Center Honor and inductions into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

But the stories people told about Parton often had less to do with awards than with how she treated people.

'Everybody felt like family'

Dig deeper:

FOX 5's Paul Milliken interviewed Parton multiple times over the years and said those encounters showed him that the person behind the public image lived up to it.

"Everybody felt like family," Milliken said of visiting Dollywood when Parton was there. "This is really an entertainer who lived up to everything you would want her to be."

He recalled his first interview with Parton in Atlanta, when she was discussing plans for Dollywood's DreamMore Resort.

Parton arrived with her own production crew, but before the interview began, she walked around the room, shook hands with every crew member and introduced herself individually.

Everyone obviously knew who she was.

But Parton still thanked each person for being there.

It was a small gesture from one of the world's biggest stars, but Milliken said it spoke to who she was.

Dolly's Georgia connections

Local perspective:

Parton's home was Tennessee, but Georgia became part of her personal and professional story.

One of her strongest connections came decades before she was a global superstar. Parton and Carl Dean married in Ringgold, Georgia, in 1966. They remained married until Dean's death in 2025.

Georgia also became part of her entertainment career. Several of her screen projects were filmed in the state, including the 2019 Netflix anthology series "Dolly Parton's Heartstrings."

Atlanta was also where Milliken first interviewed her, beginning a professional connection that continued through later interviews and visits to Dollywood.

Years later, a "Heartstrings" poster Milliken received at a Dollywood premiere still sat at his desk — one of the few entertainment souvenirs he said he kept.

From the Smokies to the world

Big picture view:

Parton's reach ultimately became global.

Following her death, Milliken said he spoke with BBC Radio 5 in the United Kingdom about what Parton meant to the American South — another reminder that a woman whose identity remained deeply rooted in the Tennessee mountains had connected with people thousands of miles away.

Perhaps the simplest explanation for that connection came from Parton herself.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Milliken asked her what advice she had for people who looked to her for guidance.

"Just know you're loved. God loves you, I love you, and we need to learn to love each other a little more," Parton said. She urged people to stop fighting and dividing themselves and instead "pull it together and get to be better people."

For all the records, movies, businesses and awards, that message may come closest to explaining Parton's impact.

She dreamed big enough to reach the world, but she never stopped talking about the mountains, family and people who taught her where she came from.

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