Dolly Parton, the rhinestone queen of country music whose voice and generosity touched millions, died peacefully in Nashville on Tuesday. She was 80 years old.
Her death was confirmed in a video posted to her social media accounts by her family. Nephew Brian Seaver shared the announcement on Instagram. President Donald Trump ordered US flags lowered in her honor, calling Parton “one of the greatest Country singers, and far beyond.”
Parton was born into poverty on January 19, 1946, the fourth of twelve children in the Smoky Mountains of eastern Tennessee. She was singing in church and on local Knoxville radio by early childhood, and at 13 she made her debut at the Grand Ole Opry. In 1964, she moved to Nashville to pursue music full time.
A Legacy Written in Song
Her breakthrough came in the early 1970s with a pair of songs that became permanent fixtures in American culture. “Jolene,” written in a single night, topped the country charts and became a universal classic. “I Will Always Love You” not only dominated country radio but gained worldwide fame through Whitney Houston’s 1992 version for “The Bodyguard.”
The 1980 film “9 to 5” paired Parton with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, and its title track became a working-woman anthem that reached number one on the Billboard charts. Other enduring hits include “Coat of Many Colors,” “Here You Come Again,” and “Islands in the Stream” with Kenny Rogers. Over six decades she released more than 50 studio albums and won eight Grammy Awards.
Philanthropy as Deep as Her Music
Parton’s giving matched her artistry. She founded the Imagination Library in 1995, a program that has distributed more than 332 million free books to children in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia. In 2020 she donated one million dollars to Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine research, a contribution she rarely spoke about publicly.
She also built the Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, creating thousands of jobs in the region where she grew up. The Dollywood Foundation supports education, disaster relief, and community development across Appalachia.
Parton had postponed concert dates in late 2025 citing health reasons, but remained active in her charitable work through her final months. She is survived by her husband of nearly 60 years, Carl Dean, whom she married in 1966.
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