Music legend Dolly Parton has died at the age of 80, her representatives have announced.
The singer died “after bravely facing a brief battle with cancer”, according to a statement from her representatives.
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Her nephew, Bryan Seaver, announced her death on social media yesterday.
In a video message, Seaver said: “My name is Bryan Seaver, son of Cassie Parton, and I’m representing the Parton and Owens family today, announcing the passing of my aunt, Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean.
“This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality.
“As her head of security for more than two decades, a role my father Larry held before me, I have imagined the heaviness of this moment but haven’t truly felt it until now.”
He added: “It is an honour, an honour that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness. But sadness lies with us, not with Dolly.
“Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by Carl (her late husband), her parents and countless others who have watched her and longed to meet her in the heavens.”
Read more:’The songs are my legacy’ – 80 years of Dolly PartonHow Dolly Parton changed young lives in IrelandIn pictures: The life of music legend Dolly PartonTributes paid to music legend Parton
In an interview published last week, Parton said she had neglected her own health while caring for her husband before his death last year.
She had previously discussed her continuing health difficulties after being forced to withdraw from an appearance at Dollywood earlier this month.
Watch: Dolly Parton on The Late Late Show in October 2002
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Parton was absent from the opening night of a new attraction at her Tennessee theme park after suffering dizziness and dehydration. Doctors advised her not to travel.
Following the cancellation, she told People: “I am dealing with some health issues that I just didn’t pay attention to when I was watching over Carl.”
Dolly Parton built a prolific six-decade career and wrote around 3,000 songs, among them the iconic ballad I Will Always Love You, later turned into an international hit by Whitney Houston
The Jolene singer was married to Carl Thomas Dean for almost 60 years. He died in March 2025 at the age of 82.
Across a career lasting six decades, Parton wrote approximately 3,000 songs, including I Will Always Love You, the celebrated ballad that became a worldwide hit for Whitney Houston.
She released 49 studio albums, along with more than 100 compilation and collaboration albums, and became known as the ‘Queen of Country Music’.
Her 11 Grammy Awards included the Lifetime Achievement Award, which she received in 2011.
Parton’s best-known film role came in her debut movie, the 1980 comedy 9 to 5, in which she starred alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.
She wrote the film’s theme song, which won two Grammys and received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song.
Dolly Parton portrayed Doralee Rhodes in 9 to 5 (1980)
Parton received another Oscar nomination for Best Original Song in 2006 for Travelin’ Thru, from the film Transamerica.
Her other acting credits included Rhinestone and Steel Magnolias.
She also appeared in numerous television specials and TV movies, while her series credits included The Simpsons, Reba, and Hannah Montana.
A longstanding advocate for children’s literacy, Parton wrote fiction, memoirs, cookery books and works for children.
In 2005, she received the US National Medal of Arts, and the following year she was among the honourees at the Kennedy Center Honors.
In 2025, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organisation behind the Oscars, presented her with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
“By her example, we believed that anything was possible. She never saw a door she couldn’t open, and the doors she opened made and changed history,” her nephew Bryan Seaver said.
Tributes pour in for Dolly Parton
Paul McCartney remembered the country star in an Instagram post, calling Parton a “magnificent star” and “wonderful woman”. He said he met her at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, where she first performed at the age of 13.
He wrote: “She was so bubbly and full of life it is difficult to take in the news that she has passed.
“Her songwriting, her singing and her philanthropy were unrivaled in the world of country music and it is hard to imagine living in a world without Dolly.”
US President Donald Trump ordered flags to be lowered for a week in honour of the late singer
Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger also paid tribute to Parton on Instagram, sharing a photograph of the pair.
He said: “What a wonderful songwriter and singer Dolly was. She brought so many people together, we will all miss her so much.”
Television presenter Oprah Winfrey recalled one of her favourite memories with Parton as “having a hoot and a holler while wearing Bob Mackie gowns on her show Dolly”.
Winfrey added: “This girl from the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee dreamed a life and then lived a life bigger than she could have ever imagined, giving so generously to others in ways we saw and ways we didn’t.”
Dolly Parton and Oprah Winfrey pictured together in 1987
Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said: “Dolly Parton did all the good she could, for all the people she could, for as long as she ever could… Dolly, we’ll miss your great heart.”
Singer Cyndi Lauper said: “It’s hard for me to imagine the world without Dolly. Dolly’s heart was as big as her talent.
“She was not only a great singer/song writer/actress/TV star, Dolly also lived her art. She used her art, her fame and her money to help so many people.”
Flowers laid beside a mural of country singer Dolly Parton in Nashville, Tennessee
Source: Press Association, AFP
