Dolly Parton’s siblings: What to know about her 11 brothers and sisters
Dolly Parton, country music icon and 10-time Grammy winning singer-songwriter, is one of 12 siblings.
The Parton family, raised by Robert and Avie Lee Parton, grew up in the Appalachia region of Tennessee, according to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Dolly Parton has seven living brothers and sisters: Willadeene, Coy, Robert Jr., Stella, Cassie, Freida and Rachel. Four of her brothers have died: Larry, in 1955 when he was just a baby; Floyd, in 2018 at age 61; Randy, in 2021 at age 67; and David, in 2024 at age 82.
In 2024, Dolly Parton participated in a project that explores her family history. The Smoky Mountain DNA website tells the story of her roots in Tennessee and her family’s impact on the music industry.
Read on for everything you need to know about Dolly Parton’s 11 siblings.
Willadeene Parton
Willadeene Parton, born March 24, 1940, is the eldest of Dolly Parton’s siblings. She “tends to act as a second mother to her younger siblings,” according to a post on Dolly Parton’s official website.
Willadeene Parton, now 84, pursued a career as an author. In 1996, she published a memoir about the Parton clan titled “Smoky Mountain Memories: Stories from the Hearts of the Parton Family.” The following year, she released “All-Day Singing & Dinner on the Ground,” a compilation of recipes from the Parton family.
David Parton
David Parton, who worked as a bridge builder superintendent, died Nov. 15, 2024, at age 82 at his home in White Pine, Tennessee, sister Stella Parton announced. A cause of death has not been revealed.
Sharing news of her brother’s death, Stella Parton posted on Threads, saying that her brother “finally got his angel wings. RIP dear soul. Love you forever.”
Before his death, David Parton largely lived his life out of the spotlight, though he had been photographed escorting Dolly Parton to events, according to Woman’s World.
Stella Parton
Stella Parton, an acclaimed musician born May 4, 1949, was 11 when she made her recording debut with sisters Dolly and Cassie Parton, singing on their uncle Bill Owens’ album, per the Smoky Mountain DNA website.
Since then, Stella Parton has released more than 30 albums, starting with “I Want to Hold You (In My Dreams Tonight),” which came out in 1975.
Stella Parton, now 75, released a memoir in 2011 titled “Tell It Sister, Tell It: Memories, Music and Miracles.” She has explored acting, too, with appearances in the film “Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors” (2015) and “Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love” (2016).
While promoting the 2022 Pure Flix original movie “Nothing is Impossible,” Stella Parton revealed to People that she considers herself a “loner in (her) family.”
“Everybody knows that I’m independent,” she said. “But if they need me, if they call me out to help with something, producing, consulting or whatever, I’m always there.”
Cassie Parton
Cassie Parton, born in 1951, first recorded music at age 10, singing backup vocals with sisters Dolly and Stella Parton, the Smoky Mountain DNA project revealed.
In 1970, she sang with her sisters on “The Porter Wagoner Show,” and she performed as a vocalist in the 2013 Dollywood production “My People: Dolly’s Letter Home,” according to Knox News.
She also appeared in an episode of the TV series “Dolly” and had a role in the 2022 film “Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas,” according to IMDb. Nowadays, she leads a fairly private life.
Randy Parton
Randy Parton, born Dec. 15, 1953, died in 2021 at the age of 67. On Jan. 21, 2021, Dolly shared his death on Facebook, revealing that her brother had died from cancer.
“The family and I are grieving his loss, but we know he is in a better place than we are at this time,” the country icon said in her statement. “We are a family of faith, and we believe that he is with God and that he is joined by members of the family that have gone on before and have welcomed him with joy and open arms.”
Like his older sister, Randy Parton achieved success in music and entertainment. Famous for his headline performances at Dollywood, the singer-songwriter released several hits that graced Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, including “Hold Me Like You Never Had Me,” “Shot Full of Love,” “Don’t Cry Baby,” “Oh, No” and “A Stranger in Her Bed,” according to the music publication.
Larry Parton
Larry Parton, Robert and Avie Lee Parton’s ninth child and fifth son, died days after his birth in July 1955. Dolly Parton was 9 years old at the time of her brother’s death.
Floyd Parton
Floyd Parton and twin sister Freida Parton were born June 1, 1957. Like many of his siblings, Floyd Parton pursued a career in the music industry, often collaborating with Dolly Parton.
He penned her 1991 duet with Ricky Van Shelton, “Rockin’ Years” and wrote “Nickels and Dimes” for her 1978 album “Heartbreaker.”
Floyd Parton died Dec. 6, 2018, at the age of 61. The Parton family paid tribute to Floyd Parton at a private memorial in Tennessee, reported Billboard.
“Dolly, and the entire Parton family, wish to thank everyone for their kindness,” the family said in a statement to People at the time. “Yesterday, we laid our sweet baby brother to rest. We all sang his lovely song, ‘Rockin’ Years,’ together as a family at the service to say goodbye to him. He lived a short life of love and beautiful songs.”
Freida Parton
Freida Parton, born June 1, 1957, is Floyd Parton’s twin sister. Freida Parton ventured into the realm of music but diverged from her family’s country origins, singing hard rock songs.
Later in life, Freida Parton became an ordained minister. She told Knoxville News Sentinel in an interview in April 2014 that she had opened Parton Family Wedding Chapel & Antiques, a wedding chapel and store, in the family’s native Sevierville, Tennessee. However, the business appears to have closed.
Rachel Parton George
Rachel Parton George was born on Aug. 31, 1959. She’s known for her portrayal of Doralee Rhodes Brooks in the ABC sitcom “9 to 5,” which was based on the 1980 comedy film of the same name that starred Dolly Parton.
In addition to acting, Rachel Parton George released a country album in 1984, per the Smoky Mountain DNA website. According to her author page for Penguin Random House, she also performed in her family’s singing group.
In September 2024, the youngest sibling of the Parton clan released a cookbook with sister Dolly Parton called “Good Lookin’ Cookin’: A Year of Meals.”
Ahead of the release, Dolly Parton shared a picture of her and her sister on social media.
“The best part of creating this cookbook is getting to spend quality time with my sister Rachel,” Dolly Parton captioned the post with a red heart emoji. “We can’t wait to share our recipes with you all, pre-order now at the link in my bio!”
Coy and Robert Lee Parton Jr.
Dolly’s other siblings — her older brother Coy Parton and younger brother Robert Lee Parton Jr. — have largely led lives out of the spotlight.
CORRECTION (July 8, 2024, 10:07 a.m. ET): An earlier version of this story misstated that Rachel Parton George and Freida Parton are twins. Freida and Floyd Parton, who died in 2018, were twins.
