Legendary country music singer, songwriter and actress Dolly Parton has died at the age of 80, her family announced on Tuesday.
Her nephew, Brian Seaver, confirmed the news in a video posted on her Instagram account, saying he was speaking on behalf of the Parton and Owens family. He did not disclose a cause of death.
Parton had spoken publicly in recent months about ongoing health challenges. In September 2025, she revealed she needed to undergo "a few procedures," and by early this year, at the seasonal opening of her Dollywood theme park, she said she was still dealing with "a few little health issues." She had also spoken about navigating grief following the death of her husband, Carl Dean, in March 2025, at the age of 82. The couple had been married for nearly 60 years after meeting outside a Nashville laundromat the day she moved to the city at 18.
Born on January 19, 1946, in a one-room cabin near Sevierville, Tennessee, Parton was the fourth of 12 children born to a family of modest means. She rose from that rural Appalachian upbringing to become one of the best-selling music artists in history, selling more than 100 million records worldwide over a career spanning more than six decades.
Beyond music, Parton built a wide-ranging career as an actress, businesswoman and philanthropist, starring in films including "9 to 5" and founding the Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Her charitable work included Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, a childhood literacy programme; her family has asked that donations in her memory be made to the organisation.
Her many honours included induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001. She received the National Medal of Arts in 2005 and was a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2006, and continued winning industry recognition into her later years, including a 2021 Emmy for "Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square" and a Grammy the same year for "There Was Jesus."
Tributes have been pouring in from across the entertainment industry and beyond following news of her death.
