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Dolly Parton, the country singer, songwriter, entertainer and entrepreneur whose rags-to-riches story, outsize persona and prodigious vision and talent placed her in a class by herself, died on Tuesday in Nashville. She was 80.
The death was announced in a video posted on social media by her nephew Bryan Seaver. No cause was provided. Concerns about Ms. Parton’s health, which began last year as she postponed and later canceled a Las Vegas residency, grew to the point that she took to social media last fall to confirm that “I ain’t dead yet.” In May, she said she had responded well to treatment after, as she put it, her immune and digestive systems “got all out of whack” in recent years.
Win 98.5 (my local country station) actually did a tribute to her up until 3:00, which in these times for radio can't always happen, but I'm glad it could today. One of the songs they played while I was on my errand was "When I Get Where I'm Going." That sure hits different now that she's gone.
In 2012, she revealed in an ABC News interview that she once entered a Dolly Parton drag queen lookalike contest and lost.
“All these beautiful drag queens had worked for weeks and months getting their clothes. So I just got in the line and I just walked across, and they just thought I was some little short gay guy,” she said, adding that she “got the least applause.”
My sister was a member of her fan club when she was young and got the chance to meet her. I had the chance to meet her as well as a guest of my sister, but passed it up. I'll kick myself for that for the rest of my life.
Losing Dolly feels like more than just losing one of the greatest musical talents of our time. It feels in a way like losing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She was like a moderating influence between the two warring cultural factions. There were times extremists on both sides came for her, but she refused to sow negativity. Not only the world of music but the nation in general is worse off for her loss.
Of the country stations I can pick up, WYCD seems to be doing the best job of paying tribute to her, playing a Dolly track every third or fourth song - not just the big hits everyone knows but lesser-known songs like "Love Is Like a Butterfly" or "You're the Only One." W4, shame on you - not one Dolly track in rotation today. WITL has played only "I Will Always Love You" and "9 to 5" - they may not have been able to get away with inserting more into the Townsquare corporate playlist - and 94.1 Duke FM, the station I'd think would be doing wall-to-wall Dolly, has played only "9 to 5" today best I can ascertain. Meanwhile, even some non-country stations (like 107.5 in Traverse City) are doing tributes.
But Dolly Parton was, most of all, a woman to look up to — in both her personal and professional life. She was married to her husband, Carl Dean, for nearly 59 years, until his death in 2025. While she didn’t have any children, her nurturing of the children in her extended family earned her the moniker “Aunt Granny.”
Opened in 1986, her Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., not only brings joy to millions of visitors, but it’s also the largest employer in Sevier County, an area that had been economically depressed before Dollywood helped make it a tourist destination. Her Imagination Library program — which she founded in honor of her father, who never learned to read or write — gave the gift of reading to countless children. To date, the program has donated more than 300 million books. In the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, she donated $1 million to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, which funded much of the early research that led to the development of the Moderna vaccine. As a philanthropist, Dolly Parton was, in short, a lifesaver — and she improved the lives of so many people.
ChrisWL1980 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 25, 2026 5:28 pm
My sister was a member of her fan club when she was young and got the chance to meet her. I had the chance to meet her as well as a guest of my sister, but passed it up. I'll kick myself for that for the rest of my life.
Losing Dolly feels like more than just losing one of the greatest musical talents of our time. It feels in a way like losing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She was like a moderating influence between the two warring cultural factions. There were times extremists on both sides came for her, but she refused to sow negativity. Not only the world of music but the nation in general is worse off for her loss.
Of the country stations I can pick up, WYCD seems to be doing the best job of paying tribute to her, playing a Dolly track every third or fourth song - not just the big hits everyone knows but lesser-known songs like "Love Is Like a Butterfly" or "You're the Only One." W4, shame on you - not one Dolly track in rotation today. WITL has played only "I Will Always Love You" and "9 to 5" - they may not have been able to get away with inserting more into the Townsquare corporate playlist - and 94.1 Duke FM, the station I'd think would be doing wall-to-wall Dolly, has played only "9 to 5" today best I can ascertain. Meanwhile, even some non-country stations (like 107.5 in Traverse City) are doing tributes.
I heard "9 to 5" on 105.3 Hot FM of all stations on my way home from work today. B93 didn't play a single Dolly song during the 5pm hour!
Parton was one of very few musical artists to be inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (other dual inductees include Elvis Presley, Hank Williams Sr., Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, the Everly Brothers, Brenda Lee, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Monroe, and Willie Nelson)
That sure hits different now that she's gone.