HOLLYWOOD—It was announced on Tuesday, August 25, that country singer and icon, Dolly Parton has died at the age of 80. Parton is the talent behind some of the biggest songs in the world including Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” which became the largest selling movie soundtrack of all-time. No official cause of death has been announced for Parton.
The news of the singer’s passing was announced on Parton’s Instagram page on Tuesday via her nephew, Bryan Seaver. In a video, Seaver, noted he was the head of her security team for nearly 2 decades.
“It is an honor, with 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 parents, and countless others who have watched her and longed for her to meet them in the heavens,” Seaver stated.
Parton was born in 1946 in a cabin in Little Pigeon River in Tennessee. She was the fourth of twelve kids born to Avie Lee Caroline and Robert Lee Parton. Parton discussed growing up “dirt poor.” She started singing as a kid and appeared on radio by the age of 10. Her first single, “Puppy Love” was recorded when she was 13.
Her first #1 single was “Joshua” in February 1971. That success was soon followed by one of her biggest hits, “Jolene” in 1973, and the 1974 hit “I Will Always Love You.” That song was later redone by singer Whitney Houston for the 1992 film “The Bodyguard.” It stayed #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts for 14 weeks. The song won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1994.
Dolly was not only known for her musical talent. She starred in several Hollywood movies including “9 to 5,” alongside Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, “Steel Magnolias” alongside Sally Field, Julia Roberts, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah and Olympia Dukakis and “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” She was nominated for 2 Academy Awards during her career once in 1980 for “9 to 5” and 2005 for “Travelin’ Thru.”
She won a total of 11 Grammy Awards during her career and was nominated 54 times; the second most nominations for any female artist only behind Beyonce. She won 3 Grammy Awards in 1982 for “9 to 5” which was nominated for Song of the Year. She won 3 Emmy Awards, and 14 CMT Music Awards. She collaborated with Kenny Rogers, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt. She was inducted in 2001 into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Parton married Carl Dean in 1966 and the two remained married for almost 50 years. He died in March 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee. Dean and Parton did not have any children, but helped raise her younger siblings, nieces and nephews. She is the godmother of singer and actress Miley Cyrus. Parton released 49 solo albums during her career.
She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame once in 1984 and another in 2019. Parton has a theme park in Tennessee known as Dollywood located in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
