Country music icon Dolly Parton dies at age 80
by Karen Butler · UPIAug. 25 (UPI) -- Country music legend, philanthropist and actress Dolly Parton has died at the age of 80, her family announced Tuesday.
Brian Seaver, Parton's nephew, announced her death in an Instagram video. In it, he said he was representing the Parton and Owens family in "announcing the passing of my aunt, Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean."
Seaver said the video announcement was something Parton asked of him years ago.
"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 til now," he said, adding that Parton "lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by Carl, her parents and countless others."
Seaver gave no further details on Parton's death.
In May, Parton canceled a Las Vegas show and said she'd been having issues with and undergoing treatment for kidney stones for several years.
"Lord, they dig more stones out of me a year than the rock quarry in Rockwood, Tenn.," she said then in a statement, NBC News reported. "But seriously, my immune system and my digestive system got all out of whack over the past couple three years, and they're working real hard on rebuilding and strengthening those and hopefully I'll be up to snuff again real soon."
In October, Freida Parton, her sister, asked for prayers for Dolly amid health issues. Dolly Parton canceled a Dollywood event in September, saying that she had a kidney stone "that was causing me a lot of problems."
"Turned out it'd given me an infection, and the doctor said, 'You don't need to be traveling right this minute, so you need a few days to get better,'" she said.
In a career that spanned more than six decades, the Tennessee native with trademark blonde curls and a sunny attitude earned 11 Grammy Awards, three Emmy Awards, an honorary Oscar and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was also the recipient of a Kennedy Center Honor and National Medal of the Arts.
Parton also owned the popular Tennessee amusement park Dollywood, which opened in 1986. A musical based on her life is headed to Broadway later this year.
Among her many hit songs were "Jolene," "I Will Always Love You," "Love is Like a Butterfly," "Here You Come Again," "9 to 5," "Coat of Many Colors" and "Islands in the Stream."
Her acting credits included 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Rhinestone, Steel Magnolias, Straight Talk, Joyful Noise, Designing Women and Hannah Montana.
Parton, the fourth of 12 children, was married to Carl Dean from 1966 until his death in March 2025.
Although they had no kids of their own, Parton was a tireless advocate for children's literacy, penning several picture books and donating millions of volumes to schools and libraries over the years.
"After accomplishing enough for three lifetimes, Dolly Parton continues to astound and amaze us with her boundless talent, her vivacious wit and her tremendous generosity," Kyle Young, chief executive officer of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, said in a statement in April 2025, ahead of an exhibit honoring Parton.
"Like all great artists, Parton has demonstrated consistently that she can transform adversity and setbacks into works of stunning beauty and insight into the human condition."
Country star, global icon Dolly Parton: a look back
Dolly Parton, who founded the "Imagination Library" in her native Sevier County in Tennessee, attends a function at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on March 23, 2000. Parton was in town to pick up an award from the Association of American Publishers for her efforts to promote literacy. Her five-year-old program has already donated 150,000 books to the county's children. Photo by Joel Rennich/UPI | License Photo