Dolly Parton, who died on Tuesday at 80, built a business empire that preceded most celebrity peers. Her vision to launch businesses bringing fans closer while protecting intellectual property was ahead of its time. Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., served as the centerpiece for decades.

Ms. Parton got her start in the 1960s with her uncles Bill and Louis Owens on Owepar, a publishing company controlling their music and copyrights. In 1982, she told Barbara Walters she wanted to keep close control of her intellectual property and expand into cosmetics and clothes for the average public, like at Kmarts.

She founded Sandollar Productions, which produced "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and in 1995, Imagination Library, a nonprofit giving books to children. Later, she signed brand partnerships across industries: cake mixes with Duncan Hines at Walmart, cookies at Williams Sonoma, meals at Shop Rite, denim with Good American, jewelry with Kendra Scott, and Doggy Parton toys.

Deborah Weinswig of Coresight Research said, "She was so early... She was just who she was." Ms. Parton told Bloomberg Businessweek in 2024 that these ventures became who she is now, without diluting her music career.