Country music legend Dolly Rebecca Parton was born on 19 January 1946 in a one-room cabin in the town of Pittman Center, Tennessee. She is 78 years old.
She is a singer-songwriter, actor and philanthropist with 11 Grammy Awards to her name, famous for hit songs including ‘Jolene’ and ‘9 to 5’.
Dolly Parton’s parents were Robert Lee Parton Senior (1921-2000) and Avie Lee Caroline (née Owens, 1923–2003). She has eleven siblings.
Dolly Parton’s middle name, Rebecca, comes from her 2x great grandmother Rebecca Dunn (1861-1930). Her family lived in Tennessee for generations, and she also has ancestors from the American states of North Carolina, Alabama, Virginia and Pennsylvania. She has English ancestry, as her 4x great grandfather Alexander Dixon was born in England in 1792, and German ancestry, as her 5x great grandparents were Johann Philipp Emmert, born in Neckarelz, Baden, c.1704 and Maria Catherina Kamm, born in Eppingen, Baden, in 1713.
Dolly Parton’s niece, Jada Star, told The Sun recently that her aunt has researched her Welsh ancestry for a four-part TV series to be broadcast in 2025.
Dolly Parton has previously told Wales Online that she has Welsh ancestry from the Owens side of her family.
Welsh football team Wrexham FC have now posted a video on X of Dolly Parton opening a Wrexham football scarf sent to her by the club's co-owners, famous actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
In the video, Dolly says: "You may have seen my recent announcement about possibly having Welsh ancestry. Well, I was tickled to learn that!"
The video is to promote the Disney Plus documentary series Welcome to Wrexham.
Watch the clip below:
