Country music icon Dolly Parton has died at the age of 80, according to multiple reports, including The Guardian and Sky News.
Parton’s demise was reportedly announced by her nephew, Bryan Seaver, on Instagram on Tuesday.
“I have imagined the heaviness of this moment but haven’t truly felt it until now.
“It is an honor, an honor that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness,” Seaver said.
Her passing, according to Trump, was a “true” loss for millions of people.”
Over the course of her more than 60-year career, Parton—who came from modest origins in Tennessee—became one of the most renowned singer-songwriters in country music.
With successes like “Jolene,” “9 to 5,” and “I Will Always Love You,” she became regarded as the “Queen of Country” and sold over 100 million records worldwide.
Parton earned eleven Grammy Awards and penned over 3,000 songs.
She was also a popular actor, having starred in movies including Joyful Noise, Steel Magnolias, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and 9 to 5.
Parton was the fourth of twelve children born on January 19, 1946, in a two-room log cabin on the banks of the Little Pigeon River in Tennessee.
Her father started off as an uneducated sharecropper and eventually became the owner of a small tobacco farm.
Parton called her family “dirt poor,” but she gave thanks to her father for his work ethic and her mother for passing on her passion and mastery of traditional folk melodies.
As a young child, Parton started performing.
By the time she was thirteen, she had released her first song, “Puppy Love,” performed at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, and appeared on local radio and television in East Tennessee.
She relocated to Nashville the day after graduating from high school in 1964 and started making a name for herself as a songwriter.
In 1967, she joined the weekly television show The Porter Wagoner Show and released her first album, Hello, I’m Dolly.
Parton was taught by Wagoner, a well-known country music artist, and the two of them put out a number of hit albums together.
Parton decided to focus on her solo career in 1973, writing “I Will Always Love You” about their professional split.
Parton’s song became a hit, and Whitney Houston notably recreated it for the 1992 film The Bodyguard.
Parton wrote “Jolene,” one of her signature songs, around the same time. Both songs were on her 1974 album Jolene, which helped her reach a larger audience outside of country music. Her 1977 album, Here You Come Again, became her first million-seller and garnered her first Grammy Award after nearly a decade of nominations.
The popularity of the film paved the way for Parton’s acting career, which included parts in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), Steel Magnolias (1989), and Joyful Noise (2012).
Parton also established a business empire that included television specials, culinary products, and Dollywood, a theme resort in Tennessee that she acquired and renamed in 1986.
Aside from singing and acting, she was well-known for her philanthropic efforts, particularly through the Dollywood Foundation’s Imagination Library, which encourages childhood literacy.
She also funded medical research, disaster relief, and other charitable causes, including providing $1 million to COVID-19 vaccine development. In 2022, she received the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy.
“I just give from my heart. I never know what I’m going to do or why I’m gonna do it. I just see a need and if I can fill it, then I will,” she said at the time.
Parton’s health troubles were revealed in September 2025, when she postponed her Las Vegas residency. In recent weeks, she has also retreated from public appearances due to chronic health difficulties.
Parton’s death comes just months after the death of her husband of nearly 60 years, Carl Dean, who died in March 2025 at the age of 82. The couple got married in 1966.
