Remembering Dolly Parton's Parents: The Couple Who Shaped a Country Legend
Remembering Dolly Parton's Parents: The Couple Who Shaped a Country Legend Dolly Parton passed away on August 25, 2026, at age 80, after a brief battle with cancer. As tributes pour in from around the world, many fans are looking back at where it all began — with her parents, Robert Lee "Lee" Parton Sr. and Avie Lee Parton, in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. Who Were Dolly's Parents? Robert Lee Parton was born on March 22, 1921, in Sevierville, Tennessee. Avie Lee (née Owens) was born on October 5, 1923, in Lockhart, South Carolina. They married in 1939 — Lee was just 17, Avie Lee only 15 — and went on to raise 12 children together in a one-room cabin near the Little Pigeon River. Lee worked as a sharecropper and took on construction jobs to keep the family afloat, while Avie Lee ran the household and raised the kids. Money was scarce, but according to Dolly, love and music were never in short supply. A Childhood Built on Faith, Music, and Storytelling Dolly wa...