What is the Dolly Parton challenge? Country singer launches meme sweeping social media

We're only 26 days into the year, but it appears that one of 2020's greatest memes has already been born – and its mother is none other than one of the music industry's biggest names.

Dolly Parton, a pioneer of country music, big hair and western-inspired style, has now put her name to a craze sweeping social media, which has seen hundreds of thousands of users take part.

The Dolly Parton challenge was born on Tuesday, January 21, after the American superstar uploaded a collage of four images to her Instagram feed.

The post showed Parton, 74, in a variety of poses that represented four websites and apps: networking service LinkedIn, image-sharing platform Instagram, social media giant Facebook and dating app Tinder.

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For LinkedIn, the 9 to 5 songstress was seen in a business-ready checked blazer; for Instagram, Parton donned bootcut jeans in a throwback black-and-white shot; for Facebook, she wore a Christmas jumper; and for Tinder she sported a bunny costume.

"Get you a woman who can do it all," the singer, songwriter and actress captioned the post.

The concept quickly took hold, with thousands of Parton's fans taking to their own social media accounts to share images that represented the four sites.

Among them was Oscar-winner Reese Witherspoon, who shared her own version through her Draper James lifestyle brand, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, who used fun moving gifs for her iteration.

Aladdin star Mena Massoud was also among the Hollywood names taking part, as was Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo, designer Donatella Versace and singer Miley Cyrus (who is Parton's goddaughter).

Parton, who has received nine Grammy Awards and two Oscar nominations during her career, hasn't yet commented on the success of her original post, or the copycat images it spawned. The last picture-led craze to sweep social media took hold at the end of last year, as the #10YearChallenge called upon users to post images of themselves taken at each end of the decade between 2009 and 2019.

Here are a couple of our favourite A-list versions of the Dolly Parton social media challenge:

Priyanka Chopra Jonas

Miley Cyrus

The Jonas Brothers

Mena Massoud

Halle Berry

Viola Davis

Mark Ruffalo

Jimmy Kimmel

Donatella Versace

Ellen DeGeneres

Mark Hamill

Reese Witherspoon