Remember When Dolly Parton’s Brother Wrote Her a No. 1 Hit?

Among Dolly Parton’s 11 siblings, she is without question the most successful. However, she isn’t the only one with musical talent. Dolly Parton has several other siblings who are also gifted, including her younger brother, Floyd Parton. In fact, it’s Floyd Parton who wrote “Rockin’ Years”, Dolly Parton’s 1991 single. A duet with Ricky Van Shelton, “Rockin’ Years” appears on both Dolly Parton’s Eagle When She Flies record and Shelton’s Backroads album.

A song about enduring love, “Rockin’ Years” says, “Rockin’ chairs, rockin’ babies, rock-a-bye, rock of ages / Side by side we’ll be together always / And if you’ll hold me tight when you love me / That’s all I’ll ask of you / And I’ll stand by you thru our rockin’ years.”

The Grammy-nominated song became Dolly Parton’s final No. 1 single. Still, she had plenty more hits at country radio after this collaboration. Following “Rockin’ Years”, she had a Top 15 single with “Silver And Gold”. In 1995, she returned to the Top 15 again, this time with her “I Will Always Love You” collaboration with Vince Gill. That duet became her final Top 15 hit.

The Artist Who Was Supposed to Record “Rockin’ Years” With Dolly Parton First

“Rockin’ Years” was a big hit for both Dolly Parton and Ricky Van Shelton, but he wasn’t the first choice for a duet partner. Instead, George Jones was originally slated to record “Rockin’ Years” with Parton. Unfortunately, Parton’s label refused to release the song with Jones’s voice, something that he later admitted still bothered him.

“There has never been a time when country radio was so disrespectful to its elders,”  Jones said in I Lived To Tell It All, his 1996 memoir.

Jones might have gotten the last laugh. In 1992, he released “I Don’t Need Your Rockin’ Chair”, a response to his omission for “Rockin’ Years”. That song, written by Billy Yates, Frank Dycus, and Kerry Kurt Phillips, became a Top 40 hit for Jones.

Floyd Parton had the most success with “Rockin’ Years”. Still, that isn’t the only song he wrote for his big sister. Floyd Parton is also a writer on “Waltz Me to Heaven”, a song he sings on the soundtrack for her 1984 Rhinestone film, starring Sylvester Stallone. He also wrote “Nickels And Dimes”, a song on her 1978 Heartbreaker album, with Dolly Parton. Floyd Parton also performed with Dolly Parton throughout part of her career.

Photo by George Rose/Getty Images

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