Dolly Parton is the undisputed Queen of Country music. Since starting her career more than 50 years ago, Dolly has released 52 studio albums, 222 compilation albums and more than 200 singles. As well as all that, she is behind some of the biggest hits by other artists and has enjoyed screen success with '9 to 5' and 'Steel Magnolias'. As the beloved star - who was officially inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November - turns 77 on 19 January, take a look back at her life...

Dolly Rebecca Parton was born on 19 January 1946 in a one-room cabin on the banks of the Little Pigeon River in Pittman Center, Tennessee, arriving as the fourth of 12 children. Dolly later described her family as being "dirt poor" and often addressed her upbringing in hits such as 'Coat of Many Colors'. The family lived in the one bedroom cabin until Dolly was about six or seven and by her early teens, she was performing on local television after teaching herself to play a homemade guitar. Dolly decided to kickstart her career in music when she had a chance meeting with Johnny Cash and he told her to "follow her instincts".

The day after leaving school, Dolly promptly moved to Nashville and found success as a songwriter. In 1967, she was offered a weekly spot on 'The Porter Wagoner Show' and soon emerged as a breakout star. The 'Jolene' hitmaker has always been known for her effervescent style, utilising a variety of wigs and heavy make up to craft her image. She later said: "When I was little, I patterned my look after the town trollop. I thought she was the most beautiful thing. She had all this makeup and hair and all the tight clothes and everything I wanted. It impressed me!"

One of Dolly's most famous songs is 'I Will Always Love You', which was originally written as a farewell to Porter when she decided to part company with him some seven years after he gave her start on TV. Many years later, the song enjoyed a massive resurgence in popularity when Whitney Houston recorded a cover version for 'The Bodyguard' in 1992 and went on to sell 20 million copies. Dolly went on to rake in millions in royalties and when asked how she felt about Whitney taking on her song, she quipped: "It costs a lot of money to look this cheap."

Despite being one of the richest women in showbusiness with an estimated net worth of $650 million, Dolly has insisted that money has never been important to her. She said: "I always count my blessings more than I count my money. I don't work for money, never did."

In 1980, Dolly made the move onto the big screen when she starred alongside Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda in the comedy '9 to 5' as an office staff member who teams up with her co-workers to fight against her chauvinistic boss. The title song describes the humdrum nature of an office job. Years later, Dolly revealed that she wrote the song using her false fingernails because they made a sound similar to a typewriter. She said: "When I actually wrote this song, I used my acrylic nails on the set when I was writing it, they make noise that kind of sounds like a typewriter." Dolly went on to produce the stage musical of the film, which ran on Broadway and the West End to critical acclaim.

Dolly has been married to Carl Thomas Dean since 1966 and while she has often kept him out of the spotlight, an incident involving him and a female bank worker with "flaming locks of auburn hair" served as the inspiration for Dolly's massive hit about a woman named Jolene who she believes is about to steal her man. She said: "She got this terrible crush on my husband… And he just loved going to the bank because she paid him so much attention. It was kinda like a running joke between us – when I was saying, ‘Hell, you’re spending a lot of time at the bank. I don’t believe we’ve got that kind of money." Dolly also noted that the name came from a little girl called Jolene who requested an autograph.

By the mid-2000s, Dolly had just released her 41st album 'Those Were the Days' and was working on 'Backwoods Barbie'. In 2006, Dolly's goddaughter Miley Cyrus landed the title role on the Disney Channel sitcom 'Hannah Montana' and was launched to worldwide fame. Miley asked showrunners to create a part for her Aunt Dolly and suddenly the Queen of Country was introduced to a whole new generation of fans. The show ran for four seasons and Dolly made three appearances as a fictionalised version of herself, later explaining: "I really credit Miley a lot for some of my younger fans and a lot of the new generation of girls that know her, that know she knows me. It is kind of a wonderful little connection I have with Miley and Billy Ray [Cyrus], they're like family to me!" In the years since 'Hannah Montana' ended, Miley and Dolly have continued to perform together, most recently on 'Miley's New Year's Eve' NBC special at the end of 2022.

Dolly is the co-owner of the Dollywood theme park in her hometown, which she purchased and renamed after making it big in the 1980s. With more than 4,000 people on its payroll, it is one of the largest employers in the country. More than three million people visit each season to experience the rides, concerts and even hopefully to catch a glimpse of Dolly herself. Dolly later said: "I always thought that if I made it big or got successful at what I had started out to do, that I wanted to come back to my part of the country and do something great, something that would bring a lot of jobs into this area."

Dolly's father was unable to read and write and in 1995 was inspired to launch Dolly's Imagination Library which delivers free books to children across America until they reach school age. She said: "If you can read, even if you can't afford education, you can go on and learn about anything you want to know. There's a book on everything."

Despite reaching the age of 77, the legendary songstress has insisted that she "hasn't got time" to get old and shows no signs of slowing down. She said: "I don't think about my life in terms of numbers. First of all, I ain't never gonna be old because I ain't got time to be old. I can't stop long enough to grow old!" Happy birthday, Dolly!