Dolly Parton, country music legend, actor and philanthropist, dies at 80

Dolly Parton, the country music icon whose soaring vibrato vocals, poignant songwriting and sparkling costumes defined her rise from a log cabin in the Tennessee mountains to the height of stardom and acclaim, has died, her nephew Brian Seaver said in a video shared on her Instagram page. She was 80 years old.US President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered the lowering of flags across the United States for a week, calling Parton’s death a “true loss for millions of people”.“Very sad to report that Dolly Parton, one of the greatest Country singers, and far beyond, EVER, has just passed away,” Trump posted on his Truth Social network.“There has never been anyone like her, and never will.”Known for her curvy physique, massive blonde wigs and skin-tight outfits that served her self-deprecating wit, she was among the most beloved personalities in music and beyond – the rare celebrity whose appeal transcended generations, geography and politics.She wrote hundreds of songs, including classics “Jolene”, “Coat of Many Colors” and “I Will Always Love You”, that totalled more than 100 million worldwide sales and more than 1 billion online streams.Parton (centre) with Lily Tomlin (left) and Jane Fonda at the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles in September 2017. Photo: Invision / APParton’s career was forever influenced by her upbringing as one of 12 children born into what she called a “dirt poor” Tennessee family.She started her education charity, Imagination Library, to send free books to children in Tennessee because her father, who left school to work on a farm, struggled to learn to read.Her first musical performances were in church, where her grandfather was a preacher. At 13, she appeared on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, where Johnny Cash introduced her as “a little girl here from up in East Tennessee”.With a suitcase of songs, she followed her uncle, also a songwriter, to Nashville in 1964. By the mid-1970s, Parton was a Nashville queen.Parton’s partnership with Porter Wagoner. She honed her acting skills on his syndicated television show and he advocated for her to get a record deal at RCA.Their first duet, “The Last Thing On My Mind”, was released in 1967, the same year she started her own publishing company.Further ReadingShe got her first number one solo single with “Joshua”, and reached the top five with the ballad “Coat of Many Colors”, about how her mother sewed together scraps of clothes to make a coat Parton wore “so proudly” even as her peers mocked her for being poor.In 1973, she had the hit that made her career – “Jolene”, a country music standard with its steady, churning rhythm and Parton’s repeated delivery of the title as she pleads for the woman not to steal her man.The song topped the country charts, crossing over to pop and later being released internationally, opening up new audiences for Parton. “Jolene” is one of her most covered compositions, including by Miley Cyrus (Parton’s goddaughter), Olivia Newton-John and The White Stripes.Kenny Rogers and Parton on stage in 1989. Photo: Globe Photos / Zuma Wire / TNSA pop crossover starParton followed “Jolene” with a huge hit in 1974, “I Will Always Love You”. She famously turned down Elvis Presley, who wanted to record it, because she would not share publishing rights.Decades later, Whitney Houston’s version of “I Will Always Love You” became a smash for the soundtrack of her 1992 film The Bodyguard, and broke sales records. Houston won a Grammy for her performance in 1994, presented to her by Parton.“Here You Come Again”, a pop crossover hit and one of the few she did not write, further established Parton as a multi-genre entertainer and brought her first Grammy Award in 1979.Parton’s other crossover hits included the title song from 9 to 5, the 1980 comedy starring Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin; and her duet with long-time friend Kenny Rogers, “Islands in the Stream”, written by brothers Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees. In 1987, she collaborated with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris on the million-selling Trio album.Parton married Carl Dean in the mid-1960s; they were together until his death in 2025 at the age of 82. Though rarely seen in public, he was an influence on her career. She told NPR that she wrote “Jolene” about a flirty bank teller who seemed to take an interest in Dean.‘9 to 5’ to Hollywood and BroadwayIn her first major film role, Parton played alongside Fonda and Tomlin as office workers who rebel against their tyrannical boss in 9 to 5.Critic Roger Ebert called her a “natural-born movie star” and the title song earned her two Grammy Awards. Starring roles in the The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and Steel Magnolias followed.“I never thought of myself as a movie star,” she said in 1979. “I knew I’d be a star, but as a singer or as a writer of songs or books or poetry.”Lily Tomlin (left), Parton (centre) and Jane Fonda in the film Nine to Five, in 1980. Photo: 20th Century Fox / Zuma Press / TNSParton also became a writer, her books ranging from the memoir Dolly to a bestselling novel wrote by James Patterson, Run, Rose, Run.The stage adaptation 9 to 5: The Musical debuted in 2009, and DOLLY: A True Original Musical was set to open in December 2026.United States of DollyBeyond her music, Parton’s most lasting legacy might be her generosity and broad appeal.When a deadly wildfire swept through the Smoky Mountains in 2016, she held an all-star telethon and set up a foundation that sent monthly cheques to residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed.She opened up her Dollywood theme park in Tennessee, a major economic driver in Appalachia that draws tourists from around the country, and established the Dollywood Foundation.She wrote books and memoirs, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and was given a lifetime achievement award by the Recording Academy.Parton was selected for the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2025.With 55 Grammy nominations and 10 wins, Parton is the third-most nominated woman in Grammy history, only behind Beyonce and Taylor Swift.Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse