Five essential Dolly Parton albums
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Adam's most prized possession. Photo: courtesy of Barry Tamburin
As the world continues to mourn the ever-iconic Dolly Parton, who died in Nashville this week, fans are turning to her music for comfort.
By the numbers: Her streaming numbers exploded following her death, with Spotify reporting listener activity jumped by 1,260% globally and 2,320% in the United States compared to the week before.
- Her top songs in the days following her death were "Jolene," with 1.29 million streams and "9 to 5" received 1.13 million streams.
Zoom out: If you want to spread the love beyond her best-known hits, we've compiled a list of five albums that will offer a taste of her expansive artistry.
🦅 "New Harvest… First Gathering" (1977): Parton herself described this as the album she sacrificed the most to make. It marked her full departure from Porter Wagoner's shadow, and saw her experimenting with poppier arrangements for the first time.
- "That's my album of deliverance," she said in 2023. "This album was my first where I felt like I had all the say in doing what I wanted to and choosing who I wanted to work with."
Top tracks: "Light of a Clear Blue Morning," "Applejack" and "My Love," a gorgeous gender-swapped cover of the Temptations hit "My Girl."
💭 Adam's thought bubble: This album holds a special place in my heart, because Dolly signed a copy for me in the early 2000s.
- Very special thanks go to my dad, who brought his old vinyl to an event and asked her to sign it for his super-fan son.
💐 "Trio" (1987) with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt: This record was a high point in the careers of three titans of popular music. The supergroup's harmonies lock together like Velcro on classic "old-world" songs.
Top songs: "Wildflowers," "Telling Me Lies" and "To Know Him is to Love Him."
⭐️ "White Limozeen" (1989): Produced by Ricky Skaggs, this record was a country comeback of sorts, but there is still plenty of glitz.
Top tracks: "Why'd You Come In Here Lookin' Like That," "Yellow Roses" and the epic gospel barn-burner "He's Alive."
🪕 The Bluegrass Trilogy: "The Grass Is Blue," "Little Sparrow" and "Halos & Horns" (1999-2002): This might be a bit of a cheat, but these back-to-back albums really feel like part of a whole that simply can't be split up.
- The three albums were presented as a return to Parton's mountain roots. They might be the best in her discography.
Top tracks: All of them, but especially "Little Sparrow," "Silver Dagger," "Down From Dover," "Shine" and "Shattered Image."
⏳ "Those Were The Days" (2005): Parton rightfully gets props as a master songwriter, but this covers album focusing on folk classics is the perfect encapsulation of her gifts as an interpreter. She can make any song her own.
- And the world is a better place with a version of "Both Sides Now" that centers her heavenly soprano.
Top tracks: "The Cruel War" and "Me and Bobby McGee."