'Big Hair, Don't Care!' 35 Truly Amazing Young Dolly Parton Throwback Photos

Singer. Songwriter. Entertainer. Actress. Author. Businesswoman. Humanitarian. These are just some of the adjectives that describe country icon Dolly Parton.

But if Parton had to choose just one thing to be, "I would be a songwriter. Everything that I am starts with that song,” she says in her 2020 Parade cover feature.

Parton, 77, began composing at a young age, even before she learned to write them on paper herself. When she was five, her mother hand-wrote her first song, "Little Tiny Tassel Top,” about a beloved corn cob doll her father made for her. “Little tiny tassel top. You’re the only friend I got. Hope you never go away. I want you to stay.”

The fourth of 12 children, Parton and her family lived in a one-room cabin tucked into the Great Smoky Mountains in Sevierville, Tenn. She grew up listening to the Grand Ole Opry on the radio and had big dreams for the future. While she was never ashamed of being poor, she would have been ashamed if she didn't become the best she could be. “I always felt like I was somebody,” she has said.

Related: Dolly Parton Shares Her Famous Chicken & Dumplings Recipe

By the time she was 10, Parton was performing on “The Cas Walker Farm and Home Hour,” a local TV show in Knoxville. “I was on television before we owned one,” Parton told Oprah Winfrey. As she explains, “My desire has always been more important than my fear.” So the day after graduating from high school Parton boarded a bus for Nashville. “I knew there was a world beyond the Smoky Mountains that I hadn’t seen,” she explains. “I was such a curious person, I wanted to be part of it.”

She hasn't just been part of it, Parton became it. In a career that has thrived for more than 60 years, Parton has broken records: 25 No. 1 hits on the Billboard charts, 41 Top 10 country albums, nine Grammy awards 43 Grammy nominations and four Guinness World Records.

Dolly Parton Guinness World Records

• Most decades on the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart (female) - (7 decades)

• Most No.1 hits on the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart by a female artist (25 hits)

• Most hits on the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart by a female artist (109 hits)

• Most decades with a Top 20 hit on the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart (6 decades)

Dolly Parton has written some 3,000 songs, many of them hits for herself and for others, including Whitney Houston, Willie Nelson, Linda Ronstadt and Merle Haggard. Plus, Parton has paved the way by inspiring countless artists from Carrie Underwood and Melissa Etheridge to Miley Cyrus and Reba McEntire. “[She was a] huge influence on me, not to mention every girl in country music...,” McEntire said when Parton received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2006. “There ain’t nobody like Dolly Parton.”

In honor of her milestone-filled career, we're taking a trip down memory lane with 35 photos of Dolly Parton through the years, including pictures when she was young, precious family photos and photos then and now.

Dolly Parton has been making music since she was very young. She had her first single, “Puppy Love," when she was 12. She co-wrote the song with her Uncle Bill Owens.

Only days after graduating from high school, teenage Dolly Parton headed to Nashville. After releasing her successful debut album, “Hello, I’m Dolly,” Porter Wagoner invited Parton to perform on his syndicated TV show The Porter Wagoner Show. They performed together for seven years.

This photo was taken one year after Dolly Parton's solo single, "Joshua," became her first No. 1 hit.

Dolly Parton shared this portrait, shot in Nashville, Tennessee, on Instagram with the caption, "Big hair, don't care!"

In 1975, Dolly Parton won the CMA Female Vocalist of the Year award after achieving major success with the songs "I Will Always Love You," "Please Don't Stop Loving Me," "Love is like a Butterfly" and "The Bargain Store."

Dolly Parton's career really took off in the 1970s. Here she performs in Los Angeles, Calif.

Dolly Parton broke the glass ceiling with her syndicated TV show, Dolly, which premiered in 1976.

Dolly Parton headed across the pond to London in 1977. Here she shows off her sweet side in London after performing before Queen Elizabeth II for a Scottish Royal Jubilee Television Special.

In 1978, Dolly Parton won her first Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Female for her song "Here You Come Again" on the album New Harvest ... First Gathering, her first self-produced album.

Dolly Parton has maintained an aggressive touring schedule for decades. Here, she performs at Georgia Tech's Alexander Memorial Coliseum in 1977.

Dolly Parton signs autographs at an in-store appearance at Peaches Records in Atlanta, Georgia in 1977.

Dolly Parton shows off her sexy side in this hot photo session for her album "Heartbreaker" in Los Angeles in 1978.

In the '70s, Dolly Parton was posing with fans and behind the scenes at many of her shows.

Dolly Parton sparkles in a 1980 portrait session before taking the stage at Ceasar's Palace in South Lake Tahoe, California.

Dolly Parton and Loni Anderson attend the premiere of The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas in Nashville, Tenn.

In the 1998 tearjerker, Steel Magnolias, Dolly Parton took on the role of beauty shop owner Truvy Jones. Here she is with the cast, from left, Julia Roberts, Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Parton and Daryl Hannah star.

In 1992, Whitney Houston recorded "I Will Always Love You," which Dolly Parton wrote in 1973. Parton penned the song for her partner and mentor Porter Wagoner. Houston's recording set a then-record of 14 weeks at No. 1.

Posing at Dollywood. Since 1986, Dolly Parton and Herschend Family Enterprises have been partners in the music-themed theme park, Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Lionel Richie, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers Perform at the Kenny Rogers: The First 50 Years show at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods in Connecticut.

Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt chat backstage at The Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, Calif.

Dolly Parton has collaborated with many artists through the years but the longest and most famous was with Kenny Rogers. They recorded the song, "Islands in the Stream," written by the Bee Gees in 1983. The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Dolly Parton sits at her desk as secretary Doralee Rhodes in this scene from the film 9 to 5  in which she starred with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. The film's theme song, "9 to 5" reached No. 1 on the country and pop charts and earned Parton a Grammy.

Dolly Parton was all smiles one year after she starred with Burt Reynolds in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

In 1984, Dolly Parton debuted her 26th solo album, The Great Pretender, which featured covers of hits from the 1950s and 1960s.

Dolly Parton is always game to get back to her mountain roots and support her Dollywood theme park.

In 2002, Dolly Parton was named Ambassador of the Tennessee Film & Music Commission.

Dolly Parton performs on stage at The Dominion Theatre in London in 1983.

Dolly Parton speaks at the 38th Annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Ceremony in 2016. As the writer of more than 3,000 songs, Parton was inspiring to say the least!

Dolly was honored with the Kennedy Center Honors on Dec. 3, 2006.

Dolly Parton performs during the Pure & Simple tour in Chicago, Illinois. Her 43rd studio album, “Pure & Simple” is a collection of love songs.

Dolly Parton and Bonnie Raitt perform at The 4th Annual Women Rock! Songs From the Movies Show in Hollywood, Calif.

Opening night of Dolly Parton's  2004 Hello, I'm Dolly Tour.

In 1988, Dolly Parton became the first woman to host the CMA Awards.

Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah, the stars of Joyful Noise, attend the movie's premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

In 2017, Parton won her eighth Grammy for Best Country Duo/Group Performance, for her collaborative remake of "Jolene" with the acappella group Pentatonix.

Next, Dolly Parton on Marriage, Kids, Love and Her Husband Carl Dean