Musical legend and country music royalty Dolly Parton has died at the age of 80.
The icon had been suffering from health concerns over the past year which had kept her out of the spotlight for months, most recently at a Dollywood event earlier this month.
Her family shared the news on social media, with an announcement coming from her nephew Bryan Seaver, with a caption that read: "A message from the family of Dolly Parton." Watch the heartbreaking announcement in the video above.
© Getty Images"Dolly called me and said she wants to rest in a beautiful bed of plush cotton because after a life wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and have some rest," he said in part. Read more of what he said below...
Dolly's career began when she was just a child, performing on local radio and TV programs, before finally making her leap into writing and recording country music in the 1960s.
What followed was a legendary career that has spanned Grammy-winning songs, box office hit films, and a legacy of kindness and philanthropy. She is also regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, having composed over 3,000 songs during her lifetime.
After achieving minor success as a songwriter, she began collaborating extensively with Porter Wagoner, with whom she released multiple solo albums, starting with 1967's Hello, I'm Dolly.
She began to then experience notable success on her own, and by the late 1970s, had fully crossed over into mainstream territory. She became a household name in 1980 with her film debut in 9 To 5 opposite Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, not only a box office smash but also critically acclaimed. She even earned an Oscar nomination for the film's title track.
© Getty ImagesDolly remained one of the industry's top sellers for decades to come, transitioning even to pop, bluegrass, folk music, and in her final years, rock. Some of her best remembered songs include "9 to 5," "Jolene," "Coat of Many Colors," "Love is Like a Butterfly," and "I Will Always Love You," which achieved massive success when covered by Whitney Houston for The Bodyguard soundtrack.
In 1966, Dolly tied the knot with Carl Dean, who remained firmly out of the spotlight for the duration of their marriage. After nearly six decades of marriage, Carl passed away in early 2025.
© Getty ImagesNot only did she succeed in the musical space, but also as an entrepreneur, especially with her business The Dollywood Company, which she acquired in the 1980s. It is best known for its theme park Dollywood in Tennessee. Dolly also wrote a stage musical based on her life, which is set to hit Broadway in January 2027.
Speaking in a recent post on her Substack, shared just a few weeks before her death, Dolly looked back on her life in song through her 2020 book Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics, and summarized her legacy as an entertainer.
"Well, I think Songteller pretty much sums me up because I love songs, and I love to tell stories," adding: "I think that I am a 'Songteller' because I tell stories through my songs. I just thought that would be the perfect name for our book and a good title for me."
"I've always said I would choose to be a songwriter because, through that, I'm able to express all those other things," she continued when measuring what she considers to be her primary medium.
Expanding on her choice, though, the "Jolene" hitmaker continued: "Of course, if you're going to write a song, you've got to sing it, so therefore I am a singer as a songwriter. The same thing goes for the stories that I write. You almost have to act them out, so in that way, I am an entertainer too," although at the end of the day, "everything that I am really starts with the song."
© Getty Images"If it came down to doing just one thing, I would choose to sit, enjoy life, experience life, the sorrows and whatever else it may bring, and write about it," Dolly explained. "I never had to go to a therapist because that's my therapy. My guitar is my therapy too. I play other instruments to write with, but the guitar is my main instrument."
"So with my little guitar, and my little head for writing songs, and my gift for rhyming, I just feel like I can go just about anywhere and do anything. I think I could sit in my house forevermore, write songs, and be perfectly happy."
