Table of Contents
Dolly Parton representatives have confirmed that Dolly Parton has passed away at the age of 80 following a short fight with cancer. The country music legend was at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville on August 25, with her family around her.
According to Entertainment Weekly, this incredible star, who has been a familiar character to many for seven decades through her excellent musical career, as well as work in films, TV, business, and charity, left the world quietly in Nashville on August 25, 2026. Tennessee.
Her reps also reflected on her life and legacy in their statement.
Her close friends spoke highly of her in a joint interview with her representatives.
“Dear and cherished Dolly Parton, she made people smile, brought them hope and happiness, not to mention the sincerity, as the main tools in her work,” the statement added.
“Her generous acts had touched innumerable souls without her ever having met them, and at the same time, there would be one who is always willing to help from her side.”
“From supporting the hundreds of millions of books through her priceless Imagination Library to providing research that ultimately led to the world-widespread vaccine, the deep affection of Dolly towards people has been and always will be her power for her lasting legacy.”
The first face fans saw when the news broke was not a fellow performer or public relations professional. It was the singer’s nephew, Bryan Seaver, who is the son of her sister Cassie Parton and her head of security for more than two decades.
Mr. Seaver, who delivered the news on an Instagram post, said that Ms. Parton had entrusted him with the responsibility years prior. The weight of that request, he said, still hadn’t fully sunk in when he recorded the video for his aunt’s fans.
Dolly Parton Knew Who Would Deliver Her Final Public Statement
In the video, Mr. Seaver announced the sad news on behalf of the Parton and Owens families. “This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality,” Mr. Seaver said.
Mr. Seaver spoke of the “heavy heart” he felt as part of the family, explaining that he had served as Ms. Parton’s head of security for more than 20 years, succeeding his own father, Larry, in the position.
“I have imagined the heaviness of this moment, but haven’t truly felt it until now,” he said in the video. As expected, his message straddled the star’s public persona and her private one, where she goes by Sister, Sis and Granny to one generation and Gigi to the next.
Mr. Seaver spoke of seeing Ms. Parton perform on tour for the first time as a child in the early 1980s and being able to take advantage of the opportunities she created, not only for him but for his cousins who also followed in her footsteps.
“Dolly not only opened a path for me but also for her whole family to achieve a potential that we were not even aware could be reached,” he said. To give an example of that, he spoke of the different cohorts of singers, songwriters, musicians, and dreamers who have been impacted in an uplifting way by Ms. Parton’s work.
Parton was preceded in death by her husband, Carl Thomas Dean, who died in March 2025 at the age of 82; they had been a couple for almost 60 years. Mr. Seaver, in his statement, mentioned that the family believed that she was reunited with Dean, her parents, and others in heaven.
Dolly Parton Was Hospitalized Four Days Before Her Death
Ms. Parton’s health had dictated her schedule for the past several months, although she insisted she still had work to do.
A previously unshared detail from the singer’s final days was revealed shortly after her death, when PEOPLE magazine reported that Ms. Parton was hospitalized near her Nashville home on Friday, August 21, and died four days later.
That was the same day PEOPLE published new comments from Ms. Parton, in which she spoke of the toll her health struggles had taken on her.
“As I’ve shared in video messages throughout the past year, I am dealing with some health issues that I just didn’t pay attention to when I was watching over Carl,” she said.
Initially, it was part of Mrs. Parton’s plan to attend the inauguration ceremony of a new NightFlight Expedition at Dollywood on August 14th; however, she changed her mind and canceled the event.
By way of a video message to her fans, she told them about her condition, which is dizziness accompanied by fainting, and that she had been experiencing dizziness and dehydration, and that her doctor in Nashville has ordered her not to go anywhere that week.
Dolly Parton Had Still Talked About Working Four Days Earlier
Although Ms. Parton had acknowledged those health issues, she wasn’t ready to stop working. In fact, in the August 21 PEOPLE story, she sounded as if she always had been: “Even though I’m still healin’, I’m still workin’!”
Ms. Parton said she had “so many things I want to achieve” and planned to work as long as she was able.
Ms. Parton had several projects in the works, including the Life of Many Colors Museum in downtown Nashville, an expansive museum dedicated to her personal and professional life, which would share space with her SongTeller Hotel, set to open its doors to guests in September.
She also spoke of her people working on “avatar performances” of Ms. Parton, which would allow audiences new ways to experience Ms. Parton’s music if traveling to a concert or meeting her in person proved difficult.
The business plans kept coming, including a collaboration with Purina on dog treats and a product called Cup of Ambition Coffee, an idea she said she had dreamed about for approximately 40 years after writing ” 9 to 5.”
She Built a Career That Reached Well Beyond the Country Music Charts
Her music always felt like a challenge to several music styles to carry on. Dolly Parton was the fourth of the twelve children who were born to Robert Lee Parton Sr. and Avie Lee Owens Parton in the East Tennessee region; she started writing lyrics as a youngster, and after school, she went to Nashville.
It was her work with Porter Wagoner that helped her get attention all over the country, and that was before her solo career launched; at the same time, her hit songs were at the top of country music charts, and the pop stars were making them their hits.
Dolly Parton’s Biggest Hits Made Her a Global Star
“Jolene” was no doubt one of her hallmark tracks, but Parton wrote “I Will Always Love You” in the moment when she and Wagoner had to part ways.
However, her version of the song was the one that hit number one on the country charts first, and then the song became a worldwide hit after Whitney Houston’s 1992 version.
Parton entered the movie world with her acting in the 1980 comedy 9 to 5. Along with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, she shared the screen in the film. She also recorded the film’s hit title song.
Her fame was greatest when 9 to 5 was released; not only did it spend a few weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, but Dolly Parton’s first motion picture as a star
Other flicks in her film career included The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and Steel Magnolias, while also regularly dropping new music and penning songs.
She is presently a big name thanks to the fact that she has sold over 100 million records globally, has 26 Billboard country No. 1 singles to her name, and has clinched 11 Grammy Awards.
Besides, Dolly Parton was honored as an inductee of the Country Music Hall of Fame, Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame .
Her Imagination Library turned into a phenomenon.
Ms. Parton’s kindness couples with her artistic career. She launched Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in 1995 in Sevier County, Tennessee, the place where she was born, partly inspired by her father, Robert Lee Parton, who was illiterate.
The project sends books that correspond to the child’s age by mail. It started in her home state but has now spread all over the United States and even to Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland.
According to the official site, the library offers Since its inception in 1995, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has given away over 300 million free, age-appropriate books to children.
Among her charitable work, Ms. Parton also has scholarships, disaster relief, medical research, and more.
When the 2016 wildfires destroyed parts of East Tennessee, the My People Fund, a philanthropy founded by Ms. Parton, provided millions of dollars in assistance to affected families.
She also donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for COVID-19 vaccine research, which was based on the basis of the Moderna shot.
Her Family Shared the Final Message She Left for Fans
After Mr. Seaver’s announcement, Ms. Parton’s Instagram account shared another message, this one consisting of five words instantly recognizable to anyone who has heard one of her classic songs: “I will always love you.”
Mr. Seaver also noted that Ms. Parton had given him a particularly detailed request about her wishes for her funeral. “Dolly Parton called me and said she wants to rest in a beautiful bed of plush cotton because after a life of wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and have some rest,” Mr. Seaver said.
At her request, Ms. Parton’s representative has revealed that the singer will only be having “a small, private service” for family members.
Fans and friends were urged to leave tributes on social media by tagging the Parton account or posting messages on her website instead of sending flowers.
The family has also appealed to people to make their donations to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library instead of sending flowers.
As for Mr. Seaver, the condition that his aunt had set for him years ago turned out to be, in a way, a final celebration of a richly lived life. “She will love you forever,” he added.