Dolly Parton is mourning the death of her youngest brother Randy Parton. Randy died at the age of 67 after a long battle with cancer, which was revealed by his legendary sister on her Facebook page. To summarize Dolly’s post, she announced via Facebook that “she and her entire family are grieving Randy’s loss but they know he’s in a better place”. The “Jolene” singer added also that “their family is made of faith and they believe her younger brother is not only safe with God but also joined by their other lost family members”.
In today’s video, we are going to revisit Randy Parton’s career and what he was doing prior to his passing. Then, we’ll take a look at the rest of the Parton family. Dolly Parton is of course the most famous of the family, but you may be surprised to learn about how many other members of the Parton family have a worthy claim to fame.
Who is Randy Parton?
Randy Parton was a country music singer and songwriter that’s best known to the media and public for being the youngest brother of Dolly Parton. Randy is the eighth of twelve children to Robert and Avie Parton. Both Randy and Dolly Parton, alongside their ten siblings, were raised in their native Sevierville, Tennessee. Randy grew up listening to many country singers that later influenced him to enter the industry. The Parton siblings occasionally practiced music together and wrote songs during their teenage years throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
Randy began his music career in the late 1970s, shortly after his high school graduation. His first major record was the song “Roll On (Eighteen Wheelers)” from 1982. A few months later, in early 1984, the song was recorded by the band Alabama and became an international chart-topper. Before that, in 1978 and 1981, respectively, Randy record and released his first two studio projects – the LPs “There Was A Dream” and “Shots Full of Love”. A decade before he founded his own self-titled record label, Randy Parton worked with the already established labels Meteor and Electric Records, being one of the labels’ most valuable singers. Over the course of his prosperous music career, Randy recorded and released songs such as “Tennessee Born”, “Lose Everything” and “Down” that helped him achieve notice in his early days.
Throughout the 1980s, his career in the music industry boomed thanks to his well-liked studio albums and singles. Among some of his best songs are “Don’t Cry Baby”, “Roll on Eighteen Wheeler” and “A Stranger In Her Bed”. Starting the new millennium, the country artist ventured into acting. He made his acting debut in the musical comedy “Rhinestone” where he worked with his sister Dolly and Sylvester Stallone. He then appeared as a musical guest on Dolly’s television show as well as various television series and talk shows. During most of his acting career, Randy Parton spent his time working for the theater. In 2007, he even signed a deal that brought him $1.5 million every year to both perform in and manage a theater bearing his name in Carolina Crossroads. His name was also given to the local theater based in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina where he performed during his early acting ventures.
Dolly & Randy’s Relationship
Dolly loved her younger brother Randy and she had the opportunity to work with him on many occasions, whether it’s on music or television projects. The two have created many hits together that can be heard on both film and television productions. Over the past few years, Dolly has continuously praised her brother’s incredible musical talents, which include playing bass and guitar, songwriting, and singing. The two shared a passion for country music ever since their childhood days and have written nearly hundreds of songs together. The first official song that they created and recorded was “Holding On To You” from 1977, which is one of the lead singles in Dolly’s eighteenth studio album “New Harvest… First Gathering”.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, they also collaborated on four other songs, with the most notable being “The Old Flames Can’t Hold Candles To You”, and “Tennessee Homesick Blue”, both of which Dolly released as lead singles from her acclaimed studio albums. Prior to his recent passing, the brother-sister musical duo released their final duet – “You Are My Christmas”, included in Dolly’s forty-seventh studio album. Apart from the highly praised music they created, which can now be heard in films and series such as “Rhinestone”, “The Queens of Country” and “Dolly”, Dolly and Randy Parton also worked on Dolly’s many television series, specials, and documentaries – “Dolly”, “Dollywood” and “Dolly Parton’s Most Precious Memories”.
In addition to revealing the news of her brother’s death and the mourning of her family, Dolly also wrote a lot about Randy’s career and the talent he shared over the last several decades. She wrote that her brother had several records on his own and the one that will always be stand out is their duet “Old Flames Can’t Hold A Candle To You”. Lastly, in her long and heartwarming post on Facebook, Dolly wrote about the final duet between her and her late brother, “You Are My Christmas”. Parton ended her post with a special message to her sister-in-law Debora and her nephews Sabyn and Heidi by stating that Randy is shining in a better place now.
The Other Parton Siblings
Randy and Dolly Parton share ten other siblings – Bobby Lee, Cassie Nan, Coy Denver, David Wilburn, Floyd Estel, Larry Gerald, Stella Mae, and the twins Rachel Ann and Freida Estelle. According to sources from the Country Living website, her brother Larry Gerald passed away just a few days after he was born in 1955, whilst her brother Floyd Estel died at the age of 61 in 2018. And what about the other living siblings of Dolly Parton? We’ll get to them shortly – if you’re enjoying the video so far, make sure you click the like button and subscribe to Facts Verse for more.
Thanks to Dolly and her incredibly talented siblings, the Parton family is one seriously gifted line. When the family was young, though, they lived through hard times like World War II and the Great Depression. The one thing that kept them together and inspired was their shared passion for music. And they owe this love for music to their mother. Avie inspired and encouraged not only Dolly and Randy Parton but all of her children to sing at home. This was confirmed during the 1982 interview of Dolly’s sister, Rachel, who spoke to “People Magazine” back then and said that “singing is like breathing at their home”.
Let’s take a look at what the rest of the Parton siblings are up to:
– Stella Parton
Stella is one of the Parton sisters the delved into acting and singing. She started her singing debut in 1967 and broke through with her worldwide hit “I Want To Hold You In My Dreams Tonight”. Over the course of her career, she has released twenty-three studio albums and over twenty-five singles. Even now, at the age of 71, Stella Parton continues to sing and star in both film and television projects.
– Cassie and Freida Parton
Currently, Cassie is 69 and Freida is 63 years old. Both are also talented singers that have performed on the “Dollywood Show” in 2013 alongside their now-late brother Randy Parton. According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, Freda no longer works in the music industry. In the 1980s, she was part of a punk band and occasionally sang as a back-up vocalist of Dolly in her albums. Now, she’s working as an ordained minister that even has her own wedding chapel based in Sevierville.
– Rachel Parton-Dennison
Like her older sister, Rachel is also a television superstar that has worked for many projects. Her most notable performance was in the ABC sitcom “From 9 to 5”, which aired from 1982 to 1988. In addition to that, Rachel sang in Honey Creek and performed on many occasions with her sisters. Most recently, alongside Stella and Dolly, the country music legend performed at the Red Tent Women’s Conference.
– Willadeene Parton
The oldest Parton child, Willadeene is 80 years old now. Unlike most of her other siblings, she didn’t pursue the entertainment industry and focused her attention on writing. She contributed a lot to the family’s empire through books, writing several memoirs for celebrities including her sister, Dolly. One of her best-selling works is the family memoir “Smoky Mountain Memories” from 1996, which was followed by her cookbook “All Day Singing and Dinner On The Ground”.
– Coy, David, and Robert Lee Parton
Neither of the three brothers worked n the show business. There’s not much information available for them as they tend to keep their personal and professional lives private.
But that wraps up our look at the Parton family. Were you familiar with the personal or professional life of Randy Parton? Share your memories with us in the comments! Also, if you enjoyed this video, don’t forget to leave us a like and subscribe to our channel for more videos. Be sure to click the notification bell to catch the newest videos from Facts Verse.
