Get to Know Dolly Parton’s Parents: Robert Lee Parton and Avie Lee Parton

Dolly Parton has often credited her parents for shaping the values that guided her remarkable career. Long before she became a country music icon, actress, philanthropist and businesswoman, she was one of 12 children raised by Robert Lee and Avie Lee Parton in the hills of East Tennessee, where faith, hard work and family mattered far more than money.

The Partons never had much financially, but they made do with what they had. While Avie Lee sewed clothes, cooked meals and cared for their large family, Robert Lee worked tirelessly to provide for his wife and children, instilling the work ethic that Dolly has carried with her throughout her life.

“We didn’t have anything,” Parton said. “Mama used to sew all of our quilts and curtains for the windows, remake our clothes and make clothes out of feed sacks or scraps… Mama said, ‘I don’t want to ever hear you say that we’re poor. We are rich in kindness and love and understanding.’”

Get to know the parents of Dolly Parton and learn more about their lives and relationship with her!

Who are Dolly Parton’s parents?

Dolly Parton was born to Robert Lee Parton and Avie Lee Owens Parton. The couple tied the knot when they were just teenagers: Robert—who goes by Lee—was 17, while Avie was only 15 years old. They married in 1939 and soon after, the two welcomed their first child and Dolly’s eldest sister, Willadeene Parton, in 1940.  

Avie worked at the family’s home and with 12 children, it was no easy feat. She was a homemaker, sewing the clothing, cooking dinners, tending to their home’s cleanliness and more. And while she worked hard at home, her husband worked as a sharecropper. To help make ends meet, Lee would sometimes work construction jobs as well. 

Although Robert Lee and Avie Lee married young and built a life together, Dolly’s mother spent years without a wedding ring. Wanting to change that, Dolly and her siblings made an extraordinary sacrifice as children: they agreed to forgo their Christmas presents so their father could finally buy Avie Lee that ring.

“I must have been 8 or 10 years old, and my mother had never had a wedding ring,” Dolly shared. “There was a houseful of kids around that time and Daddy decided he was finally going to buy Momma a wedding ring. Of course, that meant that nobody else was going to get any gifts. That costs money.”

Dolly’s parents were supportive of her career

Lee and Avie weren’t just providers for their children—they were extremely supportive of them. Dolly has shared on multiple occasions that she grew up in a family that was musically inclined, which is clear from the careers her other siblings led. From her sister Stella to her brother Randy, it’s no surprise they all grew up singing and playing instruments. 

“I grew up in a very musical family, all my mother’s people were very musical, so I was always around people playing instruments and singing, and my mom singing the old songs,” Dolly shared in an interview. “That was just part of my being and I just knew I loved it. I just continued doing that, it was just a natural thing.”

But just because Dolly grew up in that environment, it doesn’t mean she was destined for a successful career in music. However, she caught the musical bug at a young age, the singer, according to her supportive mother, having always been into music.

“I remember that Dolly made up songs before she could write them down,” Avie Lee recalled of her daughter’s childhood. “Her music has always been a sacred thing to her. When other children were going to ball games or out on dates, she would rather be somewhere singing. She would stay up all night writing songs and come downstairs to breakfast singing.”

Dolly dedicated career moments to her parents

With such supportive parents, it’s no surprise that Dolly honored both Robert Lee and Avie Lee throughout her career. One of her signature songs, “Coat of Many Colors,” was inspired by her mother and the patchwork coat she lovingly sewed for Dolly as a child from a box of donated fabric scraps. As she stitched the pieces together, she shared the biblical story of Joseph and his coat of many colors, teaching Dolly that love and faith mattered far more than material wealth.

“[“Coat of Many Colors”] is always a sweet little song when I sing it,” Dolly shared. “It depends on what’s going on in my life at the time, but that song affects me in so many different ways. I remember right after I lost Mama several years ago, it was just so hard for me to sing that song. But now I have a sweet spirit in my heart, it kinda brings her back to us… I know these songs all touched [my family] as well, because they’re all about us.”

Similarly, Dolly’s Imagination Library was created as a tribute to her father. 

“My dad was not able to read and write—he was a country boy with a bunch of kids, and he had to work instead of going to school when he was a little boy, and so he never had the chance to get an education,” she explained. “So I said, ‘Dad, why don’t we put together a little program where we give children books from the time they’re born, once a month, until they start school? That way, they can learn to read, love books. If you can read, you can kinda self-educate.’”

And so they did. The program, which began in 1995, has since gifted over 300 million books to children worldwide. 

Both of Parton’s parents have now passed, Lee in 2000 and Avie in 2003. While Dolly has shown her appreciation for them throughout her career, the singer has continued to speak about them and incorporate her childhood into the music she creates.