On this day (October 13) in 1978, Dolly Parton was at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart with Heartbreaker. The LP remained at No. 1 for nine weeks, giving the East Tennessee native her third consecutive chart-topping album. It also produced a pair of top 40 hits.
3 Nostalgic Songs From the 1970s That Will Bring You Back to Your First Love
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Parton’s career came to a strange full-circle moment. In the early days of her career, she wanted to be a country singer and make the kind of music she grew up with. However, her first label, Monument Records, had other ideas. Due to her appearance and soprano voice, they wanted to mold her into a pop singer. Her early pop singles flopped. Parton didn’t find chart success until the label allowed her to record country material.
As she gained popularity in the country music world, Parton felt the urge to conquer larger audiences. As a result, she began aiming for crossover success. Heartbreaker was the first album with which she made her first real bid for crossover success. While a large portion of country music had pop production elements at the time, Parton leaned harder into the pop sound with the album. Some of its songs sounded more like disco than country music.
Dolly Parton Finds Crossover Success with Heartbreaker
By the middle of the 1970s, Dolly Parton had found consistent success on the country charts. She topped the country albums chart for the first time with New Harvest…First Gathering (1977), kicking off a string of three No. 1 country records. The title track of her second No. 1 album, Here You Come Again, became her first top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
She tried to recreate that crossover success with Heartbreaker. However, it fell short of the success of Here You Come Again. The album peaked at No. 27, seven spots lower than the previous release. The album produced a pair of top 40 hits on the Hot 100. The title track peaked at No. 37, and “Baby I’m Burnin” reached No. 25.
On the country chart, “Heartbreaker” was a No. 1 hit. “Baby I’m Burnin’” peaked at No. 11, narrowly missing the top 10.
