Dolly Parton Dead at 80, Family Announces With ‘Great Sadness’: ‘Her Spirit Will Live With Us Forever’
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel.
America’s beloved Queen of Country Music, Dolly Parton, has died at the age of 80, her family confirmed in a video posted to social media Tuesday.
Parton was born in a one-room cabin in the Tennessee mountains, the fourth of twelve children. She frequently used her humble upbringing as inspiration for both her music and her philanthropy, donating millions of dollars to causes ranging from aiding local residents rebuilding after the Great Smoky Mountains wildfires, helping bring the American bald eagle back from the edge of extinction, funding the early stages of research into Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine at Vanderbilt University, and giving over 300 million books to American children through her Imagination Library.
The songwriter and actress earned 25 No. 1 country singles in her career, with her best known song, “I Will Always Love You,” first topping the charts in 1974. Nearly 20 years later, Whitney Houston’s remake of the tune for the soundtrack of her film The Bodyguard spent a whopping 14 weeks at No. 1.
Overall, Parton’s career spanning more than six decades saw her become one of the best-selling musicians in history, selling more than 100 million records around the world, with 25 singles hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Country charts, 44 career Top 10 country albums, and 110 career-charted singles, plus racking up eleven Grammy Awards, dozens of AMA and CMA awards. She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 199o, the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
She earned a Golden Globe nod for her turn in the 1980 comedy 9 to 5 with Jane Fonda and Lilly Tomlin, and starred in other hit films such as The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and Steel Magnolias. She was awarded a humanitarian honorary Oscar in 2025, was nominated for an Academy Award for 9 to 5, and received six nominations for Golden Globes and a Tony Award.
In 1986, Parton opened her Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The park now brings in more than 4 million visitors each year and is part of a empire that includes baking goods, coffee, frozen foods, coffee, wine, fragrances, cosmetics, jewelry, clothing, dinner theaters, hotels, and more.
Parton made headlines with some health challenges over the past year, including seeking treatment for kidney stones. She posted a video last October after she cancelled some appearances, reassuring fans she was taking her health seriously and appreciated their prayers and well wishes. In another video update in May, she again thanked everyone “for standing by me and showing me so much love and support over the past year,” and compared herself to “an old classic car” that still could be “restored” to be “better than ever.”
Parton’s husband, Carl Dean, died in March 2025 at the age of 82. They were married for 59 years.
She was actively still pouring herself a “cup of ambition” to the end, posting earlier this month about looking forward to her “My Life of Many Colors” Museum opening in the fall and telling People magazine just four days ago, “even though I’m still healin’, I’m still workin’!”
“You know me — as I’ve often said — I’ve dreamed myself into a corner and I still have so many things I want to achieve, so I’m gonna keep on working as long as I can to see everything come to life,” Parton added.
In a video posted to Parton’s Instagram on Tuesday, her nephew, Bryan Seaver, delivered the sad news “of the passing of my aunt, Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean.”
Seaver, who followed in his father’s footsteps as the head of his aunt’s security, said that Parton had asked him to deliver this news in a video like this “years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality.”
“I have imagined the heaviness of this moment but haven’t truly felt it until now,” he said, describing his role representing her as something that brought him both “pride and great sadness.”
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There was no sadness for Dolly, however, Seaver continued, because “Dolly has lived in the light, and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by Carl, her parents, and countless others who have watched her and longed for her to meet them in the heavens.”
Seaver reminisced how he got his start going on the road with Parton in the 1980s, saying she had “opened doors, not just for me, but for her entire family to reach the potential we didn’t even know was possible.”
“Dolly also opened doors for generations of singers, songwriters, musicians, and dreamers from every walk of life and across every continent,” he continued. “By her example, we believed that anything was possible. She never saw a door that she couldn’t open, and the doors she opened made and changed history.”
The family had “shared a lifetime of beautiful memories with Dolly, but so have you,” Seaver said. “She has always been on your television, your record player, your CD, and on your phone playlist, becoming an extended part of your family, whether you liked it or not.”
The family and her team would work “diligently to ensure her spirit will live with us forever,” he said. He added that Parton had called him 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.”
“Rest in peace, Aunt Dolly, Aunt Granny, Gigi,” said Seaver, listing off the various terms of endearment different generations of his family used for her. “May God bless Dolly Parton, and may God bless you all. She will always love you.”
The video concluded with a black-and-white photo of Parton, and the text from her famous song lyric, “I will always love you.”
A statement from Parton’s representatives said that she “died peacefully today in Nashville, Tennessee,” and requested fans to “pay tribute to Dolly on social media by tagging @DollyParton or by leaving a message at www.dollyparton.com,” and requested in lieu of flowers, donations to her Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library at www.imaginationlibrary.com.
“A rhinestone life that shone bright enough for the world to see, Dolly will forever stand as an inspiration not only through her timeless music and prolific songwriting, but also her wit, warmth, and kindness that made us all feel like family,” the statement added. “Dolly Parton’s legacy is one of love, compassion, and resilience. With a seven-decade career, she inspired multiple generations of artists and fans with her music and an unwavering commitment to making the world a better place. Her songs will continue to resonate with people of all ages, and her philanthropic work will have a lasting impact.”
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This is a breaking news story and has been updated.
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