How Much Is Dolly Parton Worth? Forbes Says… A LOT

Dolly Parton with blonde hair
Billboard Women In Music/Getty Images

Dolly Parton is the Queen of country music.

She’s also an incredibly talented businesswoman, and that has never been more apparent than now.

Forbes recently revealed that her estimated net worth comes in at a whopping $350 MILLION in total.

Her music catalog accounts for a third of that money, as Forbes also estimated that it’s worth a staggering $150 million, mainly since she owns all of the rights to her songs through her own publishing company.

She started her publishing company in 1966 at the age of 20, along with her late Uncle Bill, and has managed to legally maintain almost her entire catalog of music up until this point. Her estimated royalty income is between $6 million and $8 million for iconic songs like “I Will Always Love You” and “Jolene,” among others.

That’s quite impressive in and of itself, as most artists don’t have the luxury, resources, or know-how, to ensure that they own the rights to their music from the beginning of their careers on. It’s a huge part of why Taylor Swift is in the process of re-recording and rereleasing a large portion of the music from early on in her career, like she most recently did with Fifteen.

But, Dolly has plenty of other lucrative investments outside the music business which have proved to be extremely smart moves over the years.

In 2019, she signed a deal with licensing agency IMG to expand her brand into the consumer market, most recently launching her own perfume called “Scent from Above”.

She’s also produced and starred in several Netflix shows and movies, put out her first Christmas album in 30 years last year in 2020, and has a thriving presence on social media, which recently included an updated shoot of her iconic 1978 Playboy cover for her husband’s birthday.

All of this has allowed the country superstar to stay extremely relevant at 75 years young, but more so, has introduced her to an entirely new fanbase and group of young people.

One of the best business decisions she ever made was in 1986, when she purchased a theme park called Silver Dollar City near her hometown in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and turned it into Dollywood. Since then, also according to Forbes, it’s been a massive success:

“In its first season, Dollywood attracted 1.3 million visitors—a 75% increase over Silver Dollar City’s season the year prior.

The park is now Tennessee’s most-visited tourist attraction, drawing about 3 million visitors a year. Parton’s 50% stake is worth about $165 million.”

They’ve continued to make huge investments into the park which have only increased their profit. Just two months ago, Dolly and her partners announced an incredible $500 million expansion project to include the new HeartSong Lodge & Resort, as well as other additions.

And, with numbers from last year during the pandemic still looking pretty strong considering the fact that they had to completely close the theme park for a couple of months, it doesn’t look like business will be slowing down any time soon.

It’s clear that Dolly has put a lot of that money to good use, too, through a multitude of charitable endeavors like her foundation, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, as well as her generous donation to Vanderbilt University last year to help with the development of a COVID vaccine that she eventually got herself.

You don’t get to be one of the richest self-made women in the country without a lot of damn hard work and determination. Regardless of how much money she’s made over the span of her career, Dolly is one of the most real and honest people in the business and that’s never changed.

Her humble beginnings growing up in a one-room cabin in the mountains of East Tennessee has given her the grit and tenacity to chase her dreams and always stay humble in the process.

I don’t think she ever set out to achieve any of these things purely for money, though.

It’s just a byproduct of being a Queen.

And, we have to cue these classics up now:

“I Will Always Love You”

“Jolene”

A beer bottle on a dock

STAY ENTERTAINED

A RIFF ON WHAT COUNTRY IS REALLY ABOUT

A beer bottle on a dock