Dolly Parton, the country music icon whose career spanned more than five decades, died Tuesday at her Nashville home at age 80, her family said.
Parton’s family said she died peacefully and that a small private service would be held for close relatives.
Her death follows the March 2025 death of her husband, Carl Thomas Dean, after which Parton acknowledged that she had neglected aspects of her own health while caring for him.
In an interview published shortly before her death, Parton said she was still dealing with health issues but remained focused on work.
She had been developing projects including Dolly’s Life of Many Colors Museum in Nashville, while previously telling fans that she was continuing to heal.
Born Jan. 19, 1946, in a one-room Tennessee cabin, Parton grew up as the fourth of 12 children in a family she described as “dirt poor.” She learned guitar at age 7 and began writing songs as a child before moving to Nashville after high school.
Parton signed with Monument Records in 1965 and married Dean the following year. Her career accelerated after she joined The Porter Wagoner Show in 1967.
She scored her first No. 1 country hit with “Joshua” in 1971 before leaving Wagoner in 1974 to pursue a solo career.
Her songwriting became central to her success. Songs including “Coat of Many Colors,” “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You” established her as a major country songwriter.
She also retained control of her publishing interests, a decision that later became financially significant when Whitney Houston recorded “I Will Always Love You” for The Bodyguard.
Parton expanded beyond country music with her 1980 film debut in 9 to 5, starring alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.
She wrote the movie’s title song, which became closely associated with workplace equality and the women’s liberation movement.
She later appeared in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and Steel Magnolias. Her music also reached audiences through projects such as Transamerica, for which “Travelin’ Thru” earned an Oscar nomination.
Parton transformed her success into major business and charitable ventures. In 1986, she purchased and renamed the Tennessee theme park Dollywood, which became a major economic force in the region.
Her Dollywood Foundation later expanded into the Imagination Library, a book-gifting initiative inspired partly by her father’s inability to read. The program has distributed more than 300 million books to children.
Parton also supported education programs, scholarships and disaster relief. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she donated $1 million to coronavirus research at Vanderbilt University and helped fund development of the Moderna vaccine.
Parton was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999 and received the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011.
She later embraced her Rock & Roll Hall of Fame recognition by creating the album Rockstar, featuring collaborations with major rock performers.
Her career ultimately extended across music, film, publishing, business and philanthropy. Yet songwriting remained the foundation of her public identity, with thousands of compositions documenting love, hardship, work and her Appalachian upbringing.
Parton’s family said a private service will be held for close relatives. The supplied sources do not provide further details about memorial plans or a public funeral.
