On This Day in 1989, Dolly Parton’s Final Solo No. 1 Debuted on the Country Chart

On this day (August 26) in 1989, Dolly Parton’s “Yellow Roses” debuted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Almost exactly three months later, on November 25, it reached No. 1, becoming the second consecutive chart-topper from her album White Limozeen. Additionally, “Yellow Roses” was her final solo single to reach the top of the country chart.

“Yellow Roses” was Parton’s final No. 1 as a solo artist. However, she scored two more chart-toppers with collaborations. “Rockin’ Years,” a duet with Ricky Van Shelton, topped the country chart in 1991. Then, she joined Motley Crue for a new rendition of “Home Sweet Home.” It topped the classic rock chart in July 2025.

A Pivotal Time for Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton started aiming for crossover success in the late 1970s. The albums Here You Come Again and Heartbreaker featured pop production and other non-country elements. They both did well on the Billboard 200. Fast-forward nearly a decade to 1987, and Parton had left her longtime label, RCA, for Columbia Records. Her new record deal came with a new strategy. They planned to have Parton alternate between pop and country albums instead of blending the styles. This strategy failed.

Her first album with Columbia, Rainbow, was aimed at the pop charts. It peaked at No. 153 on the Billboard 200. It also reached No. 18 on the country chart, making it her lowest-charting album since My Tennessee Mountain Home, which reached No. 19 in 1973. The album’s two singles–“The River Unbroken” and “I Know You by Heart” also flopped.

[RELATED: The Iconic Words Dolly Parton Once Joked Could End Up on Her Tombstone]

Columbia released the album around the same time Parton’s TV show, Dolly, premiered. It was another example of the country icon being led by executives into a venture that didn’t suit her. “Right out of the chute, I had problems,” she recalled. “I saw in the first three months that the show wasn’t going to work, because I didn’t have the right staff. I didn’t have the right people with me. That’s another thing about having city people with me–Hollywood versus Nashville, city versus country,” she added. “I had a totally different idea of what the show should have been and could have been, and I knew right away it wasn’t gonna make it.”

White Limozeen marked a return to form for Parton. Produced by Ricky Skaggs, the album featured country and bluegrass material that proved to fans and critics alike that she hadn’t strayed too far from her country roots.

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