Dolly Parton

Jolene arrived in 1973 and has never really left. It was one of a run of number one country hits Parton had through the decade, alongside Love Is Like a Butterfly, The Bargain Store and Here You Come Again, and it remains one of the most covered songs in American popular music.

She launched her solo career properly in 1974 and the recognition came almost immediately: the Country Music Association named her female vocalist of the year in both 1975 and 1976. In 1978 she won a Grammy for Here You Come Again and the CMA named her entertainer of the year. Around this point she began moving into the pop market, and did it without losing standing in Nashville - a crossing that has ended a great many country careers.

The peak of that run is 9 to 5. She wrote it for the 1980 film she starred in alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, and in 1981 it became her first song to reach number one on the Billboard pop chart. It won her Grammy Awards for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female and Best Country Song. Writing your own number one, for a film you are in, is not a thing that happens often.

Three of her songs - I Will Always Love You, Jolene and Coat of Many Colors - have been entered into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The first of those became, in another artist's hands, one of the best-selling singles ever recorded, and Parton wrote it in 1973.