According to Official Guinness Records,
Dolly Parton (USA) has scored Top 20 hits on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart for six consecutive decades (1960s–2010s). Her first Top 20 entry was "Something Fishy" in 1967, since when she's been a credited artist on a further 73 Top 20 hits, up to and including a new version of her 1974 hit "Jolene", featuring US a cappella quintet Pentatonix, which debuted at No.18 on the chart dated 8 October 2016. "Jolene" also extended Dolly's record for the most US country hits by a female artist to 107. George Jones (1950s–2010s) and Dolly Parton (1960s–2010s) are the only country artists with more than five decades on the Hot Country Songs chart. Dolly has achieved Top 20 entries in all six decades in which she's charted, while Jones has "only" reached the Top 20 in five of the seven decades in which he's charted (1950s–1990s), giving Dolly the record.
Eleven singers, including Elvis Presley (1950s–1980s and 2000s) and Reba McEntire (1970s–2010s), have achieved country hits in five different decades.
Nineteen of Parton's Top 20 country hits were as a duo with fellow American singer Porter Wagoner (1927–2007).
Parton was also a key member of Artists of Then, Now & Forever, a multi-act collective who debuted at No.1 on the chart dated 8 October 2016 (the same chart on which "Jolene" was a new entry) with "Forever Country", in celebration of 50 years of the Country Music Association Awards. "Forever Country" is a medley of John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads", Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again" and "I Will Always Love You", arguably Parton's most famous and best-loved recording, and the veteran singer appears in the last few seconds of the accompanying video to finish off the medley. Parton is not individually credited on "Forever Country", and therefore the track is not included in her total of 74 Top 20 hits – or 107 hits in total – on the Hot Country Songs chart.
Parton holds a number of other US country records, including most No.1 hits (25 – shared with Reba McEntire;total excludes "Forever Country"), most hits by a female artist (107) and the longest span of No.1 hits (35 years 26 days between "Joshua" (No.1 on the chart dated 6 February 1971 for one week) and "When I Get Where I'm Going" (No.1 on the chart dated 4 March 2006 for one week;record excludes "Forever Country").
Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart was inaugurated on 20 October 1958, and was then named Hot C&W Sides. The name and length of the chart has changed over the years, but since 30 April 2005 the 60-position Hot Country Songs chart has been published each week by Billboard.
For a complete list of 2016 records, please visit 2016 Guinness Records in United States.