Dolly Parton, a country music icon and philanthropist, turns 75 years old today.
Aside from her status as a country music icon, she is a lifelong philanthropist. She founded the Imagination Library, which mails books to children under the age of 5 across the world to improve child literacy, and her million-dollar donation to Vanderbilt University helped develop the highly effective Moderna coronavirus vaccine. Her advocacy for racial justice was recently celebrated in a mural in Nashville.
Here's a look at her life and career, in photos:
Dolly Parton, country music singer-composer in February 1975. (AP Photo/RCA)
Country Music stars Dolly Parton, left, and Minnie Pearl, right, are seen at the Country Music Awards show in October 1977, Nashville, Tennessee. (AP Photo)
Les Paul, right, and Chet Atkins, left, are presented Grammys by Dolly Parton and Freddie Fender, second from right, at 19th annual Grammy Awards, Feb. 19, 1977 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/George Brich)
Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash are shown at the Country Music Association Awards in Nashville, Tenn., in 1978. (AP Photo)
Carol Burnett and Dolly Parton sing a duet during a television special made at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry House for broadcast, Feb. 14, 1979. The CBS program marks the first joint appearance of comedienne Burnett and country-western music star Parton. (AP Photo)
From left, Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton and Lily Tomlin get together Dec 12, 1980 at a Los Angeles news conference to promote their soon-to-be released movie "9 To 5". (AP Photo/Wally Fong)
Singer Dolly Parton, Nov. 10, 1982. (AP Photo/Humphrey)
Actor Sylvester Stallone, left, and actress and singer Dolly Parton, sit in a horse-drawn carriage during the filming of the movie Rhinestone, on West Broadway in lower Manhattan, Wednesday, Oct. 27, 1983, in New York. The movie is being made for 20th Century Fox. (AP Photo/Mario Suriani)
Entertainer Dolly Parton, wearing a wedding dress, is shown with 300-pound wrestler Hulk Hogan during taping of a television special in Los Angeles, Ca., on Sept. 14, 1987. (AP Photo/Bob Galbraith)
Stars of the film Steel Magnolias pose backstage at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York Nov. 5, 1989 at the movie's premiere. Shown from left: Dolly Parton, Sally Field, Olympia Dukakis, Shirley MacLaine, Julia Roberts and Daryl Hannah. (AP Photo/Ed Bailey)
Country singer Dolly Parton rehearses for the Capitol Fourth 2003 Concert in front of The Capitol in Washington, Thursday, July 3, 2003. The celebration scheduled for Friday is to feature performances by Parton, James Ingram and the Chieftains, and a fireworks show. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)
During a news conference for the opening of the Dixie Stampede in Orlando, Fla. Wednesday June 18, 2003 Dolly Parton fields a question. Parton was all dolled up like an American flag to publicize her Dixie Stampede in Orlando.(AP Photo/Peter Cosgrove)
Country music legend Dolly Parton relaxes at her office in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, Aug. 11, 2005. Parton will begin touring this month to promote her new album, "Those Were the Days." (AP Photo/John Russell)
Dolly Parton plays the fiddle with Stuart Duncan while performing the song "Those were the Days" from Parton's new album Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2005, in Moline, Ill. (AP Photo/Quad City Times, Louis Brems)
Country singer Dolly Parton rehearses the Oscar nominated best original song "Travelin' Thru," from the film "Transamerica," during a rehearsal for the 78th Academy Awards on Monday, Feb. 27, 2006, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. The Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2005 will be presented on Sunday. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Country singer and songwriter Dolly Parton, nominated for an Oscar for best original song for "Travelin' Thru" from the film "Transamerica," arrives for the 78th Academy Awards Sunday, March 5, 2006, in Los Angeles. Parton will perform the song during the show. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
Reba McEntire, left, performs "How Blue" with Dolly Parton during taping of "CMT Giants" honoring Reba McEntire, Thursday night, Oct. 26, 2006, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. The show is scheduled to air on Saturday, Nov. 18. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The 2006 Kennedy Center honorees pose for a group photo at the State Department in Washington, Saturday, Dec. 2, 2006. From left to right are: Zubin Mehta, Steven Spielberg, Dolly Parton, Smokey Robinson, and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Singers Dolly Parton and Smokey Robinson, film director Steven Spielberg, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and conductor Zubin Mehta are being celebrated by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for their contributions to American culture. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Country singer Dolly Parton performs during her concert in Ijsselhallen in Zwolle, north eastern Netherlands, on March 18, 2007, as part of her European tour. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Dolly Parton appears on the NBC "Today" television program in New York Wednesday, April 22, 2009. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Country music entertainer Dolly Parton performs during the 75th Anniversary Rededication Event at the Rockefeller Memorial at Newfound Gap in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2009 at the Tennessee-North Carolina border. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Patricia Resnick, left, Dolly Parton, and Stephen Oremus, pose for a picture in New York, Thursday, April 23, 2009. Parton wrote the music and lyrics for "9 to 5: The Musical", as well as starred in the film version, Resnick wrote the screenplay for the movie and the book to accompany the new musical and Oremus is the Music Director of the musical. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
U.S singer Dolly Parton performs at Glastonbury music festival, England, Sunday, June 29, 2014. Thousands of music fans have arrived for the festival to see headliners Arcade Fire, Metallica and Kasabian. (Photo by Jonathan Short/Invision/AP)
Dolly Parton arrives at the 51st annual Academy of Country Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sunday, April 3, 2016, in Las Vegas. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Dolly Parton poses in the press room with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award during the 50th annual CMA Awards at the Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Dolly Parton, left, and Katy Perry perform “Coat Of Many Colors” at the 51st annual Academy of Country Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sunday, April 3, 2016, in Las Vegas. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP)
Dolly Parton presents the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 23rd annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
Lily Tomlin, from left, Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda present the award for outstanding supporting actor in a limited series or a movie at the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 17, 2017, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
Hosts Reba McEntire, from left, Carrie Underwood and Dolly Parton appear at the 53rd annual CMA Awards at Bridgestone Arena, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Dolly Parton, center, performs "God Only Knows", "There Was Jesus", and "Faith" with Joel Smallbone, left, and Luke Smallbone, right, of For King & Country at the 53rd annual CMA Awards at Bridgestone Arena, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
