Dolly Parton—whose unmistakable soprano and extraordinary songwriting made her one of the most recognizable figures in American culture—has sadly passed way at 80 years old yesterday after a brief battle with cancer, as confirmed in a video message from her family.
For more than six decades, the “Queen of Country” wove stories of heartbreak, ambition, and home into songs shared across generations. Her songwriting formed a tapestry of the beauty and hardships of life in Appalachia, where she spent her childhood before pursuing her music career in Nashville. Growing up poor, Parton and her family relied on music to keep going: “So it was just natural for my mom to always be singing. My mother had that old-timey voice, and she used to sing all these songs that were brought over from the Old World. They were English, Irish, Welsh, folk songs where people tell stories,” she wrote in her 2020 book, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics. She also outlined her family’s poverty in her early songs “Coat of Many Colors” and “In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)”.
In the early 1970s, Parton grew in the country genre. Known for hits like “Jolene”, “I Will Always Love You” and “Love Is Like a Butterfly”, and the duet with Porter Wagoner, “Please Don’t Stop Loving Me”. Parton again topped the singles chart in 1975 with “The Bargain Store”. Later, she embarked on a crossover campaign to increase her visibility outside the country genre. The result was 1977’s Here You Come Again, which became her first million-seller, topping the country album chart and reaching number 20 on the pop chart. She continued to have hits with “Heartbreaker” (1978), “Baby I’m Burning” (1979) and “You’re the Only One” (1979), all of which charted in the pop Top 40 and topped the country chart.
The 80s and 90s saw her expanding into acting. Parton, alongside Academy Award winner Jane Fonda and Academy Award nominee Lily Tomlin starred in the 1980 comedy 9 to 5, which told the story of three working women (played by Fonda, Tomlin, and Parton) who live out their fantasies of getting even with and overthrowing their company’s autocratic, “sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot” vice president. The film earned positive reviews and earned Parton an Academy Award, Golden Globe Awards, and several Grammy nominations for the hit title song, which she won for the latter. The film went on to have a musical stage adaptation, which Parton wrote new songs for.
She also sung the infamous duet with country legend Kenny Rogers in “Islands in the Stream”, and starred in several other films: The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), Rhinestone (1984), and the feminist drama Steel Magnolias (1989).
Parton was a philanthropic force. She donated hundreds of millions of dollars over her lifetime and was recognized with the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in 2022. Her work in literacy is a defining aspect of her legacy, connecting millions of children with free books through her Imagination Library and giving the gift of education through her Dollywood Foundation. She also gave $1 million to fund COVID-19 research and supported the development of the Moderna mRNA vaccine. In 2003, her efforts to preserve the bald eagle through the American Eagle Foundation’s sanctuary at Dollywood earned her the Partnership Award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Parton was also vocal in her support for LGBTQ lives. Parton was known for her long history of openly supporting the gay community and publicly came out in support of same-sex marriage in 2009. She also voiced her support for the trans community after a series of anti-trans measures came into law in Tennessee in 2023. Parton has described herself as a drag queen and has said, “It’s a good thing I was born a woman or I’d a been a drag queen.” The Dollywood Foundation, funded from Parton’s profits, has brought jobs and tax revenues to a previously depressed region. Parton also worked to raise money for other causes, including the American Red Cross and HIV/AIDS-related charities.
In the wake of Whitney Houston’s 1992 version of “I Will Always Love You,” Parton used some of the royalties from Houston’s cover to invest in an office complex in a predominantly Black section of Nashville. Parton spoke out after the 2020 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and voiced support for the Black Lives Matter movement. “I understand people having to make themselves known and felt and seen,” she said in a Billboard cover story. “And of course Black lives matter.” She has also worked to fund band and choir students in predominantly black schools.
Parton also did her part in protecting our planet. Raised among the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, Parton was vocal about her love for the state and the importance of protecting our natural resources. In a 2022 interview with National Geographic, Parton said, “mistreating Mother Nature” is like “being ugly to your mama.”
Unsurprisingly, her untimely passing has shocked many all over the world. Millions of tributes poured in, from her 9 to 5 co-stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin to Queen Latifah and Keke Palmer, Taylor Swift and Tom Jones to Celine Dion and even Kim Kardashian. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani too had nothing but warm words to say, calling her an irreplaceable champion of the working class and how the US is a better country because of her. President Donald Trump, in a far cry from his megalomania, ordered that flags be flown at half-staff for the next week to “honor one of the greatest country singers, and far beyond, EVER.”
Her family has informed to donate to the Imagination Library instead of flowers, to help younger generations improve their literacy skills. So in the spirit of Dolly Parton, play “Jolene”, read to your children, and show kindness to everyone, even if they don’t deserve it. After all, it was prophesised in her 1977 song, Light of a Clear Blue Morning: “everything’s gonna be alright”.
Rest in peace, Dolly Parton. We will always love you.
