Dolly Parton, the country music legend who built an extraordinary career across music, film, television and business, has died. She was 80.
Parton died on Tuesday, August 25 at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Her publicist, Marcel Pariseau, confirmed that she died surrounded by loved ones after a “brief battle with cancer”. The specific type of cancer has not been disclosed.
Her death was announced by nephew Bryan Seaver in a video shared to Parton’s social media accounts on behalf of the family. Parton had asked Seaver years earlier to be the person to announce her death when the time came.
More on Screen Realm:
View this post on Instagram
Dolly Parton’s Cause of Death
Parton’s cancer diagnosis had not previously been made public.
She had spoken about health problems over the past year, postponing and ultimately cancelling a planned Las Vegas residency while undergoing medical treatment. She had also dealt with kidney stones and said her immune and digestive systems had been causing problems.
Parton said some of those issues had gone unattended while she was caring for husband Carl Dean, who died in March 2025 at the age of 82. The couple had been married for nearly 60 years.
Remarkably, just four days before her death, Parton was still talking about her work and future plans.
“Even though I’m still healin’, I’m still workin’!” she said, adding that she still had “so many things” she wanted to achieve.
Her representatives have not provided further details about when the cancer was diagnosed.
From Tennessee to One of Music’s Biggest Stars
Born Dolly Rebecca Parton on January 19, 1946, in Tennessee, Parton was one of 12 children and grew up in a poor family in the Great Smoky Mountains.
Music started early. She performed in church as a child, was appearing on local television by the age of 10 and made her Grand Ole Opry debut at 13. After graduating from high school in 1964, she moved to Nashville to pursue music full-time.
Her partnership with Porter Wagoner gave Parton a major national platform in the late 1960s, although her solo career soon took off on its own.
Then came songs that would stick around for generations.
“Jolene”, “Coat of Many Colors”, “I Will Always Love You”, “Here You Come Again”, “9 to 5” and Kenny Rogers duet “Islands in the Stream” were among the recordings that turned Parton from country star into a mainstream name.
“I Will Always Love You”, written as Parton prepared to leave Wagoner’s show, reached No. 1 on the US country chart for her twice. Whitney Houston’s recording for 1992 film The Bodyguard later turned the song into an international phenomenon.
Parton also knew the value of what she had written. She famously turned down the chance for Elvis Presley to record “I Will Always Love You” after his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, requested a share of the publishing rights. Parton refused to give them up, a decision that proved enormously valuable when Houston’s version arrived years later. The story is detailed by the US Copyright Office.
According to the Recording Academy, Parton received 55 Grammy nominations and won 10 competitive Grammys, as well as receiving its Lifetime Achievement Award.
She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. Parton initially questioned whether she belonged in the latter, then responded to the honour by recording a rock album.
A Memorable Screen Career
Parton didn’t need much time to prove she could act, either.
Her major film debut came opposite Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in 1980 comedy 9 to 5, playing Doralee Rhodes, one of three employees who decide they’ve had enough of their sexist boss. The movie became a major hit, while Parton’s title song earned an Academy Award nomination and two Grammys.
The performance also brought Parton Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy and New Star of the Year. She followed it with The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas opposite Burt Reynolds, earning another Golden Globe acting nomination, before taking roles in Rhinestone with Sylvester Stallone, Steel Magnolias, Straight Talk and Joyful Noise.
Television was a big part of her career as well. Parton fronted her own variety shows and appeared across decades of TV, including roles and guest appearances in everything from Designing Women and The Simpsons to several episodes of Hannah Montana alongside goddaughter Miley Cyrus.
In 2022, Parton reunited on screen with her 9 to 5 co-stars Fonda and Tomlin in the series finale of Grace and Frankie, appearing as what the show’s creators called a “middle management angel”. The reunion had reportedly taken years to arrange.
Her screen work wasn’t limited to appearing in front of the camera. Parton became an Emmy-winning producer when Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square won Outstanding Television Movie in 2021. She also received Emmy nominations as an executive producer on Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings: These Old Bones, Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love and Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas.
And there’s a screen connection casual fans may not associate with Dolly Parton at all: Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Parton co-founded Sandollar Productions with former manager Sandy Gallin. The company produced 1992 Buffy the Vampire Slayer film and helped bring the Sarah Michelle Gellar-led television series to the screen, later working on spin-off Angel. Sandollar’s film credits also included the Father of the Bride films, Sabrina and Oscar-winning documentary Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt.
Parton was an uncredited producer on Buffy through Sandollar. Following her death, Gellar remembered Parton’s support, saying that “being a small part” of her history meant “everything” to her.
Gellar had previously revealed that Parton would send the cast Christmas gifts despite rarely being seen around the production. Parton herself later said she was “very, very proud” to have been part of the series.
Dollywood, the Imagination Library and Giving Back
Parton’s success went well beyond performing. She became involved with Tennessee theme park Dollywood in 1986, helping turn it into a major tourist destination and employer in the area where she grew up.
In 1995, she launched Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library after being inspired by her father’s inability to read or write. The programme began by sending free books to young children in her home county before expanding across the US and internationally, including Australia.
By the end of 2025, the Imagination Library had gifted more than 304 million books since its launch.
Parton also donated US$1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for COVID-19 research in 2020. Vanderbilt later confirmed that her funding supported important early research connected to the Moderna vaccine.
Her other philanthropic efforts included scholarships, children’s healthcare and support for communities affected by the devastating 2016 Tennessee wildfires.
Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Reba McEntire and More Pay Tribute
Tributes quickly arrived from across music, film and television following news of Parton’s death.
Cyrus, who grew up knowing Parton as her godmother and later worked with her on Hannah Montana and numerous musical performances, shared an emotional tribute.
“The feeling of losing my Aunt Dolly is beyond what feels right to share,” Cyrus wrote.
She said some of their most important moments would remain private and revealed that one of their final conversations had been about “music and metamorphosis”.
Taylor Swift told Entertainment Weekly: “A world without Dolly doesn’t feel possible, real, or right.”
Swift praised both Parton’s generosity and the path she created for other artists, describing her as “true grace and true grit, all in one dazzling person”.
Reba McEntire remembered her longtime friend in a post shared on Instagram.
“Dolly, thank you for all the wonderful things you did for us here on earth,” McEntire wrote. “There will never ever be another you.”
Parton’s 9 to 5 co-stars also shared tributes.
Jane Fonda said she was “devastated” in a lengthy Instagram post, writing, “I never knew anyone like her,” and describing Parton as “the voluptuous embodiment of empathy”.
Lily Tomlin kept her tribute simple: “Friend. Songwriter. The Great Harmonizer of Humanity. Dolly. Dolly. Dolly. Forever Dolly.”
Friend. Songwriter. The Great Harmonizer of Humanity. Dolly. Dolly. Dolly. Forever Dolly. pic.twitter.com/ZEdUS1PrcV
— Tomlin and Wagner (@LilyTomlin) August 25, 2026
Kacey Musgraves also captured the mood in a short post on X: “The world feels a lot less sparkly all of a sudden.”
The world feels a lot less sparkly all of a sudden.
— K A C E Y (@KaceyMusgraves) August 25, 2026
Paul McCartney, Céline Dion, Shania Twain, Blake Shelton, Reese Witherspoon, Sally Field, Jamie Lee Curtis and many more also paid tribute.
For Parton, the music alone would have made for one hell of a career. Instead, she also leaves behind memorable films, television work, a major business empire and charitable programmes that have reached millions.
And, of course, those songs. “Jolene”, “9 to 5”, “Coat of Many Colors” and “I Will Always Love You” aren’t going anywhere.
