Music legend Dolly Parton, country singer and songwriter, dies at 80
Country music singer Dolly Parton died in Nashville, Tenn., her family announced on Tuesday. She was 80 years old.
A Christian who once told The New York Times that she kept a Bible on her nightstand, Parton was born in a one-room cabin in Pittman Center, Tenn., in 1946. She was the fourth of 12 children. Her family moved into a two-room cabin and farm on Locust Ridge when she was a child, a replica of which is displayed at Dollywood, Parton’s theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Parton met her husband, Carl Dean, outside a laundromat on the first day she arrived in Nashville, one day after graduating from high school. They married two years later in 1966. They never had children. Dean died in 2025.
After singing on local radio and television shows as a child, Parton released her debut album, “Hello, I’m Dolly,” in 1967. She would go on to make 50 studio albums, win 10 Country Music Association awards, 13 Academy of Country Music awards, 11 Grammy awards, three Emmy awards, six Golden Globe awards and a Tony award.
She also received two Oscar nominations and a humanitarian honorary Oscar in 2025, in recognition of her charitable work.
Some of her most well-known musical hits include “Islands in the Stream,” “Jolene,” “9 to 5" and “I Will Always Love You,” which later rose to pop-music fame when it was performed by singer Whitney Houston for the 1992 romantic thriller, “The Bodyguard.”
Parton’s songs tend to include Bible references, including the songs “Coat of Many Colors” and “The Master’s Hand.” She was said to have written thousands of songs, not just for herself but for artists across the musical spectrum.
In 1976, she began working with Sandy Gallin, her personal manager, who was Jewish. In her 2020 visual memoir Songteller, Parton wrote about Gallin, “Nobody could quite get how the Christian Southern girl and the New York Jewish boy could have so much in common. But it was real.”
Her philanthropic Imagination Library program inspired Jewish philanthropist Harold Grinspoon to start PJ Library, which distributes Jewish books to children. In 2023, Parton did an interview with the nonprofit literacy program.
“My daddy didn’t get a chance to learn to read or write, and that was so hard for him,” she told PJ Library. “He was one of the wisest men I have ever known, but his inability to read kept him from fulfilling all his dreams. Inspiring kids to love books and reading early in life became a passion for me.”
She noted that she was “a big believer in putting my money where my heart is. But it’s impossible to do this work alone.”
Lawmakers and celebrities flooded social media on Tuesday with fond memories of the singer-songwriter. U.S. President Donald Trump wrote that he was “very sad that Dolly Parton, one of the greatest country singers, and far beyond, ever, has just passed away.”
The president said he would be lowering the American flag throughout the United States in her honor for one week, beginning Tuesday at 6 p.m.
“Rest in peace, Dolly,” he wrote. “The world loves you.”
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Dolly Parton, the iconic country music singer and songwriter, passed away in Nashville, Tennessee, on Tuesday at the age of 80. Born in a one-room cabin in Pittman Center, Tennessee, in 1946, Parton was the fourth of 12 children. Her prolific career included 50 studio albums and numerous awards, such as 11 Grammy Awards. Some of her most famous hits include "Jolene," "9 to 5," and "I Will Always Love You." Parton was also known for her philanthropic work, particularly the Imagination Library program, which inspired the Jewish PJ Library. U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the American flag would be lowered nationwide for one week in her honor, stating, "The world loves you."
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