American country music legend Dolly Parton has passed away at the age of 80.
The death of the songwriter and actress was announced by her nephew and security chief, Bryan Seaver, in a video posted to Parton’s official social media handles on Tuesday.
According to Seaver, Parton died “peacefully”, and a small, private service will be held for her close family.
She was one of the most influential figures in US country music and shaped music and popular culture over decades. Coming from a modest and humble family, she rose to become one of the most iconic singers of the 20th and 21st centuries.
She wrote more than 3,000 songs, released 49 albums and won 11 Grammys in a music career that spanned over five decades, making her one of the most successful country crossover artists of all time, scoring regular hits on the pop charts, including “Islands in the Stream,” a duet with Kenny Rogers.
Parton wrote and sang global hits including “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You.” According to Seever, Parton wanted the latter phrase to be used as her final farewell.
She also penned and sang evergreen songs like “Coat of Many Colours,” an enduring quiet ode to her mother, who stitched together garments in the family’s rural Tennessee home.
Born on January 19, 1946, in a one-room cabin in Tennessee, Parton grew up the fourth of 12 children. She was also renowned for her humanitarian and philanthropic endeavours, which saw her gift more than 300 million books to children around the world through a library program she founded.
Parton’s demise came a year and a half after her husband died in a car accident, an incident that devastated her and deeply affected her life afterwards.
Parton had been open about various health issues in the last two years, and especially after her husband Carl Dean died in March 2025. “Back when my husband Carl was very sick — that was for a long time — and then when he passed, I didn’t take care of myself,” Parton said in a video to fans earlier this year. “So I let a lot of things go that I should have been taking care of.”
