Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner worked together for seven years. She sang on his television show and they performed together. Over the years, Parton began to feel confined by their working relationship, and decided to move on as a solo artist. She also didn’t think she was making enough money with him. When Parton moved on as a solo artist, her earnings increased by thousands of dollars.
Dolly Parton said her earnings went up when she stopped working with Porter Wagoner
Parton moved on from her collaboration with Wagoner in 1974. She said money played a role in her decision.
“The years I was with Porter, I worked for $300 a night, which is another reason I needed to get out on my own,” she told Playboy in 1978, per the book Dolly on Dolly. “I needed to make money.”
She realized she could be making significantly more money on her own.
“[I was making] sixty thousand dollars a year,” she said. “I started from no money at all and that sounded like a lot of money to me. And it was. But why should I work for hundreds and thousands when I can work for hundreds of thousands?”
She was right. Her earnings immediately went up when she started touring as a solo artist.
“When I went out on my own, I was working for $2,500, then it got up to $3,000, and now I have no idea,” she said. “It is way up in the thousands.”
This is a 900% jump. After a few more years, Parton said she typically made a minimum of $15,000 a night, which is a nearly 5,000% increase.
Porter Wagoner sued Dolly Parton
In 1979, Wagoner sued Parton for $3 million.
“He claimed she owed him money for breach of a management contract and for other results from their separation,” reads Dolly on Dolly. “Seeking $3 million, Wagoner argued that he’d given Dolly two cars, rings, and diamond necklaces. His suit asked for a number of items: 15 percent of her net income from June 1974 through June 1979, 15 percent of her outstanding record royalties, 15 percent of future record royalties, and so on.”
Parton and Wagoner eventually settled out of court. She paid him $1 million.
She said she found the end of their working relationship embarrassing
Parton said she agreed to settle the case to save herself and her family from a lengthy legal battle. She found the situation embarrassing. While she was glad to move on from the partnership, she didn’t like the public way it played out.
“It turned out, well, it was just kind of an embarrassing thing that I wish had never happened,” she said on The Ralph Emery Show. “In a way, it was kinda good that it did, but that’s hindsight.”
Unsurprisingly, the lawsuit did not have a positive impact on their relationship. Parton and Wagoner reconciled by the end of his life, though.
