Dolly Parton, a true American icon, started her career in the music industry when she was a young child, singing on local radio and television programs in Tennessee when she was 10 years old. Her first single was released when she was 13 years old. Parton has continued to release new music throughout all of her time performing, which is over 6 decades. Parton has recorded music in many different genres, her most famous being country, but also pop, bluegrass, gospel, and most recently, rock. She has recorded many extremely famous songs, such as “Jolene,” “I Will Always Love You,” “9 to 5,” “Coat of Many Colors,” and “Hard Candy Christmas.” There have been many movies she has participated in too, like “9 to 5,” “Steel Magnolias,” and “Gnomeo and Juliet.” Her work is not limited in the commercial industry, though. Parton is well known for her philanthropy, like her Imagination Library, which helps get high quality books to children. She even donated money to help fund researching for a COVID-19 vaccine. She has been honored in many different ways over her career, but most recently, she has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This is why she is now working on a rock album to release in the next year. 

It was not easy to pick a song of Parton’s for this assignment, since I enjoy listening to many of her songs, but I decided on “Hard Candy Christmas” because this is our last song share before winter break. I really enjoy this song because Parton does not try to sugar coat how hard Christmas can be for many people, since it is not always the most wonderful time of the year. Parton does a very good job always writing music that most everyone can relate to throughout her entire career.