Country star Dolly Parton dead at 80 | Fox News
By: Christina Dugan Ramirez (Fox News)
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Dolly Parton dead at 80
Music icon Dolly Parton has passed away at the age of 80 due to health complications in Nashville, Tennessee.
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Legendary country singer and songwriter Dolly Parton has died. She was 80.
Parton died peacefully in Nashville, Tennessee on Tuesday, according to a press release obtained by Fox News Digital.
Her nephew revealed the news in an Aug. 25 Instagram video. The news comes after Parton spent months battling an unknown health issue.
Dolly Parton has died. She was 80. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
"My name is Brin Seaver, son of Cassie Parton, and I'm representing the Parton and Owens family today announcing the passing of my aunt, Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean, Sister, Sis and Granny to one generation and Gigi to the next," he says in the video. "This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality. 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 until now."
"It is an honor, an honor that is mixed with absolute 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 to meet her in the heavens."
"I first went on the road with Dolly as a kid, getting a taste of the road life in the early 1980s. Dolly opened doors not just for me, but for her entire family to reach the potential we didn't even know was possible. Dolly also opened doors for generations of singers, songwriters, musicians and dreamers from every walk of life and across every continent," Seaver added in the video message. "By her example, we believed that anything is possible. She never saw a door she couldn't open, and the doors she opened made and changed history.A post shared by Dolly Parton (@dollyparton)
"My family and I have shared a lifetime of beautiful memories with Dolly, but so have you," Seaver continued. "She has always been on your television, your record player, your CD and on your phone playlist, becoming an extended part of your family whether you liked it or not. Our family and the team she has entrusted with her legacy will work diligently to ensure her spirit will live with us forever. Dolly was a farmer, just like her daddy; he farmed the soil, she farmed songs and happiness. Dolly 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."
"Rest in peace, Aunt Dolly — Aunt, Granny, Gigi. May God bless Dolly Parton, and may God bless you all. She will always love you."
Parton had been battling a series of health issues. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
In May, the country legend announced she was canceling her planned Las Vegas residency, which had already been postponed from 2025 to September 2026 because of health concerns.
Parton had previously discussed problems involving kidney stones, saying her immune and digestive systems had gotten "out of whack" and were being treated.
At Parton's request, a small, private service will be held for immediate family.
In lieu of flowers the family asks for donations to be made to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.
This story is developing.
Christina Dugan Ramirez is an entertainment journalist with more than 15 years of experience, including a decade at PEOPLE writing high-profile cover stories, covering Hollywood's biggest events, and interviewing many of the industry's most influential stars before joining Fox News Digital in 2024.
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Rest in peace Dolly, and thank you for the music and entertainment over the years.
She was as universally liked as any modern American.
We lost an AMAZING song writer and personality.
Although I was more involved with folk music, I considered Dolly Parton to be an icon, a symbol of Americana. Her death is a loss not just to us, not to just America, not just to the world of music, but to the world at large.
When Shakespeare wanted to indicate the importance of a person lost, he used the words "He was a man, take him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like again." If you could feminize that statement, you could apply it to Dolly Parton.
There are literally thousands of kids who can read and write because of her generosity, and she never sought credit for all the positive things she did for others.