Dolly Parton, the legendary American country music singer, songwriter, actress and philanthropist whose career spanned more than six decades, has died at the age of 80.
Parton’s family announced her death on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, in a video posted to her Instagram by her nephew, Brian Seaver. No cause of death was immediately disclosed.
Seaver, who served as Parton’s head of security for more than two decades, said the announcement was something his aunt had asked him to make years earlier.
He described Parton as a beloved member of the family and said she had “lived in the light,” adding that she was now reunited with her late husband, Carl Dean, her parents and other loved ones.
Born on January 19, 1946, in a one-room cabin near Sevierville, Tennessee, Parton was the fourth of 12 children in a poor Appalachian family. Her father, Robert Lee Parton, supplemented the family’s farm income with construction work, while her mother, Avie Lee, introduced her children to traditional Appalachian music.
Music Career
Parton began performing as a child and was appearing on local radio and television programmes by the age of 13. She later made her debut at the Grand Ole Opry before moving to Nashville immediately after graduating from high school in 1964.
Her early success came largely as a songwriter. She eventually became a regular performer on Porter Wagoner’s television programme before establishing herself as a solo star.
Her breakthrough came in the 1970s with songs including “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You”. The latter became one of the most commercially successful songs of the 1990s when Whitney Houston recorded her own version for the soundtrack of “The Bodyguard”.
Parton went on to sell more than 100 million records and win 11 Grammy Awards. She also established a successful Hollywood career, appearing in films including “9 to 5”, “Steel Magnolias” and “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas”.
Her 1980 film “9 to 5” also featured Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, while Parton wrote and performed the movie’s title song.
Business Endeavor
Beyond entertainment, Parton built a substantial business empire and became one of the most successful female entrepreneurs in the American entertainment industry. Her ventures included Dollywood, the theme park she opened in 1986 in the Great Smoky Mountains near her Tennessee hometown.
Parton was also widely celebrated for her philanthropy. Through the Dollywood Foundation, she supported education and poverty-relief initiatives, while her Imagination Library programme has distributed more than 300 million free books to children.
The programme was inspired in part by her father, who could not read or write. Parton said she wanted to create an initiative that would give children access to books and allow her father to take pride in helping promote literacy.
Parton also made a major contribution to Covid-19 research. In 2020, she donated $1 million to coronavirus research at Vanderbilt University, which later contributed to the development of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine.
Her personal life was closely linked to Carl Dean, whom she married in 1966. Dean largely stayed away from the public spotlight throughout their marriage and died in March 2025 at the age of 82.
Following his death, Parton spoke publicly about the difficulty of adjusting to life without him but continued working and performing.
In May 2026, Parton cancelled a planned Las Vegas performance while receiving treatment for kidney stones and other health problems. She said at the time that her immune and digestive systems had been affected and that she was working to rebuild her health.
Days before her death, she had indicated that she still intended to continue working despite acknowledging that she had slowed down following her husband’s death.
