What You Didn't Know About Stella Parton's Music Career

Stella Parton has been getting a lot of attention for her frank and outspoken Twitter account as of late, particularly her December 18, 2020 tweet with which she lambasted politicians for not putting up any personal money toward funding a Covid-19 vaccine — unlike her sister, country legend Dolly Parton. Dolly, per CNN, donated $1 million to Covid-19 research, part of which was used to fund Moderna's vaccine. Unlike Dolly, who has tended to keep mum about her own political leanings, Stella doesn't hold back from criticizing the Trump administration, criticizing the leaders of evangelical churches for "fleec[ing] their flocks", or voicing her support for Democrats in the upcoming Georgia Senate race. She also recently released a new album, Survivor, and hosts a podcast about her life in country music, "Parton Me, Nashville!" 

What most people don't know is that Stella Parton has had as long a career as her more famous older sister Dolly. According to W magazine, Dolly and Stella had a girl group together along with two other Parton sisters, Willadeene and Cassie, in the 1950s and '60s. On her own website, Stella's biography notes that in 1975, she started her own record label, Soul, Country, and Blues, or SCAB Records, and released her debut album, I Want To Hold You (In My Dreams Tonight). Per Billboard, the album went to number 24 on the Country charts, with the title song peaking at number 9 on the Hot Country singles chart. 

Stella Parton went on to record 39 albums and release 32 singles, according to her website. Most of her success came in the 1970s with two more albums, Country Sweet and Stella Parton, reaching Billboard's Top Country charts and 14 songs charting on the Hot Country 100. She's also written three cookbooks, appeared on television shows such as The Dukes of Hazzard, and starred in several Broadway touring musicals, including The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, in which she's played the role of brothel owner Miss Mona, per WFPL – a role made famous by Dolly Parton in the 1982 film adaptation of the play.

The Parton sisters have continued working together over the decades. Stella's website notes that she served as a consultant on the 2015 made-for-TV movie Coat of Many Colors, based on an autobiographical story of Dolly's, and played the role of Corla Bass in both the original production and its sequel. Stella's eclectic career also includes appearing on the BBC series Celebrity Masterchef, running a virtual church on YouTube which she calls Funhouse Church, and penning her autobiography, Tell It, Sister, Tell It: Memories, Music, and Miracles.