Porter Wagoner to Pitbull to Post Malone: 25 Dolly Parton Collaborations That Hit Billboard’s Charts

Parton charted with more than 60 artists, from Wagoner in 1967 to Belles this year. 9/3/2026 Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner perform onstage circa 1967. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images “We’re little, we’re blonde and we love each other.” That’s how Sabrina Carpenter captioned her 2025 collaboration with Dolly Parton, who joined her for a remix of “Please Please Please.” After the song had topped the Billboard Hot 100 in its original form, the team-up version hit the top 20 on the Hot Country Songs chart. Not every Parton collaboration was with other little and blonde people (most weren’t, actually), but the love that other musicians had for her is obvious, given the wide scope of artists with whom she recorded and enjoyed chart hits over more than half a century. Parton’s musical catalog reflects that spirit of togetherness and her far-reaching appeal. She first made Billboard’s charts when “Dumb Blonde” entered Hot Country Songs, at No. 64, in the Jan. 21, 1967, issue. That December, she charted her first duet, when “The Last Thing on My Mind,” with Porter Wagoner, debuted. It went on to become her first top 10, rising to No. 7 in February 1968. Parton’s most recent new charted recording, and the last release during her lifetime, is also a team-up, as “Son of Jolene,” with Belles, became a country sales chart hit in May. Over that nearly 60-year span, Parton appeared on rankings with more than 60 collaborators. Below, and following the icon’s Aug. 25 death, Billboard recounts 25 of her most notable charted musical partnerships, via titles that range from country and bluegrass to dance, R&B/hip-hop, rock and more. Said Parton in 2020, when she was continuing to scale Billboard charts with other acts, “I’m touched and honored that I’m able to still be important in the business.” Porter Wagoner Wagoner and Parton teamed for 13 Hot Country Songs top 10s, spurred by her run on The Porter Wagoner Show in 1967-74. One hit No. 1: “Please Don’t Stop Loving Me,” in October 1974. Wagoner was also famously the inspiration for Parton’s “I Will Always Love You,” which she penned as she departed the syndicated musical variety program. “If it hadn’t been for Porter, I wouldn’t have written this song,” she noted. “It was kind of my goodbye song to Porter.” Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson & Brenda Lee With Parton, the quartet hit No. 4 on Top Country Albums in 1983 with …The Winning Hand. Kenny Rogers Image Credit: Gary Gershoff/Getty Images After Parton first topped the Hot 100 solo in 1981 with “9 to 5,” she led again with her most enduring duet, the Bee Gees-penned “Islands in the Stream,” with Rogers. Parton and Rogers recorded other songs, including the 1984 cozy carol “A Christmas To Remember”; a second Hot Country Songs No. 1, 1985’s “Real Love”; and the poignant “You Can’t Make Old Friends,” which hit Country Airplay in 2013. Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris Trio, with Ronstadt and Harris, became Parton’s first top 10 on the all-genre Billboard 200, hitting No. 6 in 1987. It also ruled Top Country Albums and generated the Hot Country Songs No. 1 “To Know Him Is To Love Him,” a remake of The Teddy Bears’ 1958 Hot 100 leader. The set also went on to win the Grammy for best country vocal performance by a duo or group in 1988. The supergroup followed with Trio II, which hit No. 4 on Top Country Albums in 1999. It includes a cover of Neil Young’s “After the Gold Rush,” a 2000 Grammy winner for best country vocal collaboration. Smokey Robinson Parton and the Motown cornerstone’s “I Know You by Heart” reached No. 22 on Adult Contemporary in spring 1988. Ricky Van Shelton In 1991, the pair’s “Rockin’ Years” became Parton’s 24th Hot Country Songs No. 1s, and her most recent in a lead role. “Friends” “It is amazing how fast a buzz can spread when the song is right,” Lynn Shults, then Billboard’s country chart manager, wrote in the Feb. 6, 1993, issue. “The latest example is ‘Romeo’ by Dolly Parton [& Friends] — an event record. It features Parton along with Mary Chapin Carpenter, Kathy Mattea, Pam Tillis, Tanya Tucker and Billy Ray Cyrus.” Shults further noted the song’s “tongue-in-cheek gender humor,” playfully directed at Cyrus, who had burst in the year before with “Achy Breaky Heart.” “Romeo,” which Parton solely wrote, hit No. 27 on Hot Country Songs in March 1993. Added then-WSIX Nashville program director Doug Baker of the song, per Shults, “‘It’s a fun thing. It’s unique.’ ” Vince Gill After Parton’s original “I Will Always Love You” led Hot Country Songs in 1974 and her re-recording also ruled in 1982, she climbed the chart with a third version. As a duet with Gill, it hit No. 15 in 1995. Gill posted a tribute after Parton passed, calling their harmony at the end of their performance of the ballad at the 1995 CMA Awards “one of the most beautiful sounds I’ve ever heard.” Rod Stewart Stewart and Parton’s “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” reached No. 2 on Adult Contemporary for two weeks during the 2004 holidays (below Josh Groban’s own seasonal single “Believe”). Parton added one more AC top 10 to her catalog, a similarly-themed Yuletide duet: “Cuddle Up, Cozy Down Christmas,” with Michael Bublé (No. 10, 2020). Brad Paisley Parton upped her total to 25 Hot Country Songs No. 1s — the most among women — as featured on Paisley’s “When I Get Where I’m Going,” which led for a week in March 2006. Queen Latifah Image Credit: Jemal Countess//Getty Images Parton and Queen Latifah teamed for two entries on Billboard’s gospel charts in 2012, “He’s Everything” and “Higher Medley,” with other stars of the genre. Plus, one song, multiple regal recording stars: Parton’s newest version of “Light of a Clear Blue Morning” (originally from 1977) features Lainey Wilson, Miley Cyrus, Queen Latifah and Reba McEntire. It topped Country Digital Song Sales this January. Pentatonix Three versions of “Jolene” have hit the Hot Country Songs top 20. In between Parton’s original, which led for a week in 1974, and Beyoncé’s interpretation (No. 3, 2024), Pentatonix featured Parton for its take, which reached No. 16 in 2016. Their vocal blend also led to a Grammy win in 2017 for best country duo/group performance. Galantis & Mr. Probz The three acts’ “Faith,” a reworking of John Hiatt’s “Have a Little Faith in Me,” crowned Dance Airplay in 2019. “I’m going to make it my business to try to do songs that are more uplifting … songs about better things,” Parton said upon previewing “Faith” that year. “Do better and have a little more love, a little more light.” Jimmy Fallon Image Credit: Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Webster PR Fallon and Parton gifted listeners two songs that reached Billboard’s holiday charts: a cover of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” in 2020, and “Almost Too Early for Christmas,” in 2022. Upon her passing, Fallon shared that Parton “always made everyone she met feel like a million dollars. I would get butterflies just being in her presence. And that’s kind of what I think of when I think of Dolly. She’s a butterfly. Beautiful. Magical. Dreamy. And like most butterflies, they stay for a moment, captivate you, fascinate you, mesmerize you and then fly away far too soon.” Randy Parton In 2020, Parton and her brother Randy’s “You Are My Christmas” became a holiday sales chart hit. It’s her only chart entry billed with a family member (and also features Randy’s daughter, Heidi). Reba McEntire Image Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images Along with their collaboration with Queen Latifah, as noted above, Parton and McEntire reached Hot Country Songs in 2021 with “Does He Love You.” McEntire originally took the song to No. 1 in 1993 as a duet with Linda Davis (mother of Lady A’s Hillary Scott). Kelly Clarkson Parton and Clarkson’s ballad version of “9 to 5” hit No. 15 on Digital Songs Sales in 2022. It accompanied the documentary Still Working 9 to 5, a look at workplace equality in the years since 1981’s 9 to 5, famously starring Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. Said Parton about the update, “I got a chance to sing background for a change!” Belinda Carlisle, Cyndi Lauper, Gloria Estefan & Debbie Harry Musical GOATs and a GOAT QB: “Gonna Be You” is from 80 for Brady, another Fonda-Tomlin movie, in which their characters, and Rita Moreno’s and Sally Fields’, journey to the Super Bowl to see Tom Brady. The single by the five legends reached Digital Song Sales in 2023. Diane Warren wrote the song. “Since 80 was in the title I got a crazy idea,” she mused. “Why not get some of the most iconic singers from the ‘80s, who are still amazing and always will be, to all sing it?! Everyone I approached said yes and was just as excited as me!” Miley Cyrus Image Credit: Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy Before this year’s all-star “Light of a Clear Blue Morning,” Parton and her goddaughter charted together with, among other songs, an update of Cyrus’ 2013 Hot 100 No. 1 “Wrecking Ball.” Theirs crashed country and rock sales charts in 2023. Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr More GOATs: Parton’s take on The Beatles’ “Let It Be,” from her 2023 album Rockstar, teamed her with fellow Rock & Roll Hall of Famers. It also marked the first charted collaboration between two billed solo Beatles, hitting No. 22 on Digital Song Sales that September. Pitbull Reimagining “9 to 5” further following Parton and Clarkson’s version, Parton and Pitbull’s “Powerful Women” hit No. 2 on Billboard’s Rap Digital Song Sales chart in April 2024. Beyoncé In addition to taking “Jolene” to No. 3 on Hot Country Songs in 2024, Beyoncé enlisted Parton for another track on her album Cowboy Carter. Their “Tyrant” hit No. 12 on Hot Country Songs and No. 18 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, marking Parton’s first career appearance on the latter list. Post Malone Post Malone’s “Have the Heart,” featuring Parton, hit No. 22 on Hot Country Songs in 2024. It’s from his country turn, F-1 Trillion, which debuted atop the Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums. Sabrina Carpenter Image Credit: Courtesy of Sabrina Carpenter/YouTube Fittingly, per Carpenter’s quote about their “Please Please Please” remix, it was added to her album Short n’ Sweet. Following “Tyrant” with Beyoncé, “Please Please Please” gave Parton a second top 20 Hot Country Songs hit this decade, a feat she hadn’t achieved since the 1990s. Belles “She gave me the greatest gift,” Belles shared after Parton passed, reflecting on their “Son of Jolene” (which is drawing new country radio support). “I don’t even know how to say ‘thank you.’ I was just a girl from Nebraska growing up idolizing Dolly and I never imagined moving to Nashville that I would get to meet her, much less have this song with her. To have the last song with Dolly is just unimaginable. She’s really made all of my dreams come true in so many ways. “My favorite part about my life right now is just going around saying how much I loved Dolly Parton,” she continued. “We had so much fun that day. She really didn’t have to do that. She just took a chance on me. She really made me believe in myself a lot more. I’m just very grateful.” Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox Sign Up