The Life of Country Music Icon Dolly Parton

In 1962, she and Bill Owens signed deals with Tree Publishing and Mercury Records, giving her a real chance to break into the country music business. For a young singer from rural Tennessee, the contracts felt like a major breakthrough.

But the excitement faded quickly when her first major-label single failed to chart. Mercury eventually dropped her, forcing her to deal with another painful disappointment just as she was trying to establish herself in Nashville.