Dolly Parton, the singer-songwriter and actress whose six-decade career made her one of the most beloved figures in American entertainment, has died. She was 80.
The news was announced Tuesday by her nephew, Bryan Seaver, her longtime head of security, in a video posted to Parton’s official Instagram. “This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago,” Seaver said, adding he was speaking “representing the Parton and Owens family” in announcing the passing of his aunt.
Parton’s death comes months after she announced in May 2026 that she was canceling a planned Las Vegas residency, citing ongoing treatment related to kidney stones and broader health issues she described at the time as affecting her immune and digestive systems.
Born Jan. 19, 1946, in a one-room cabin near Sevierville, Tennessee, Parton was the fourth of twelve children born to a sharecropper father and homemaker mother. She turned her rural upbringing into some of her most enduring songwriting, including “Coat of Many Colors.” Over a career spanning more than sixty years, she became known for hits including “Jolene,” “9 to 5,” and “I Will Always Love You,” and built a business empire extending well beyond music, including her Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Parton was inducted 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 a Kennedy Center Honor in 2006.
She is preceded in death by her husband of 59 years, Carl Thomas Dean, who died in 2025, and by her parents, Avie Lee Owens Parton and Robert Lee Parton Sr.
According to a statement from her team, Parton’s immediate family will hold a small, private service. Fans and friends are encouraged to pay tribute on social media, and in lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, the childhood literacy nonprofit she founded.
