Dolly Parton has died at the age of 80.
The legendary country singer’s death was confirmed today in an Instagram video posted by her cousin Bryan Seaver, who was also her head of security.
“This video announcement is something that Dolly asked of me years ago before I fully absorbed it as a future reality,” Seaver revealed.
He praised his aunt for “living in the light” and said she was now “in the arms of Jesus” and in the company of her late husband Carl Dean, as well as her parents and “countless others who have watched her and longed to meet her in heaven.”
Often referred to as the Queen of Country, Parton enjoyed an illustrious music career that spanned six decades and was perhaps best known for her hits Jolene and 9 to 5.
Her death followed months of health problems that saw her withdraw from a series of public appearances, fueling fans’ fears for her well-being.
Seaver fondly recalls joining Parton on tour when he was a child in the 1980s, saying that she “opened doors not only for me, but for her entire family to reach the potential that we didn’t even know was possible.”
He characterized her as ‘a farmer’s wife, just like her father; he tilled the ground, she tilled songs and happiness. Dolly called me and said she wants to rest in a beautiful plush cotton bed, because after a lifetime of wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and have some rest.’
Legendary country star Dolly Parton has died at the age of 80
In an interview published just four days before her death, Parton had stated that she still had “so many things I want to accomplish” and vowed to “keep working as long as I can to see everything come to life,” via People.
She explained that she was struggling with “some health issues that I just didn’t pay attention to when I was watching over Carl.”
Parton was born the fourth of twelve children in Pittman Center, Tennessee, on January 19, 1946.
She and her siblings – Willadeene, David Wilburn, Coy Denver, Bobby Lee, Stella Mae, Cassie Nan, Randel Huston “Randy,” Larry Gerald, twins Estel Floyd and Freida Estelle, and Rachel Ann – grew up in the Great Smoky Mountains, sleeping on straw beds and living without running water, gas or electricity.
Parton had developed a love for music at an early age, singing regularly on local radio and making television appearances as a child in East Tennessee before releasing her first single, Puppy Love, at age 13.
In 2008, Parton told NPR that her 1973 song Jolene was partly inspired by a local bank teller who flirted with her late husband.
“She was deeply in love with my husband,” she said at the time. “And he just loved going to the couch because she paid so much attention to him.
“It was kind of like a running joke between us when I said, ‘You spend a lot of time at the bank. I don’t think we have that much money.’
Parton is pictured in her latest Instagram post, which was uploaded on August 12
Years later, she told a crowd at the Glastonbury Festival about the song: “I wrote that years ago when my husband… was spending a little more time with Jolene than I thought he should be.
‘I stopped doing that. I quickly got rid of that red-haired woman.”
Parton’s 1974 hit, I Will Always Love You, was written about the experience of cutting ties with her former business partner and mentor Porter Wagoner as she set her sights on pursuing a solo career.
The song reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, first in June 1974 and then again in October 1982.
Parton famously refused to let Elvis Presley record his own version after his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, demanded she sign over half of the publishing rights.
“I wouldn’t let Colonel Tom Parker do that,” she recalled in an interview with BBC Radio 2 in 2023.
“Look, Elvis loved the song. I spoke to Priscilla not too long ago. She said, ‘You know, Elvis sang that song to me as we walked down the courthouse steps when we got divorced.’
The Queen of Country enjoyed a music career that spanned no less than six decades
Parton’s well-known hits include Jolene, 9 to 5, and I Will Always Love You
The musician, pictured with her mother Avie Lee, won eleven Grammy Awards and three Emmy Awards during her lifetime
“He loved the song, wanted to do it, when it was done they had already called me to come to the studio to meet him, and to participate and hear the song.
“And the night before, Colonel Tom Parker called me and said, ‘Well, you know we don’t shoot anything with Elvis unless we’ve published about it, or at least half of the publications.’
“Well, I said, because it had a number one song on it, I said, ‘This is the most important copyright in my entire publishing company, and I can’t do that.’
She added that Parker said they couldn’t do that, and the song fell apart, while Parton added that she was “heartbroken” because she always wanted to hear Presley sing it.
She was proven right in her determination to retain the rights when Whitney Houston recorded the song for her 1992 film The Bodyguard, after which it became a resounding international hit that took the soundtrack album to 18 times platinum.
Parton wrote and recorded the song 9 to 5 in 1980 for the comedy film of the same name, in which she co-starred with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.
The song, which she wrote on set by clicking her nails together to form the beat, became one of her biggest hits of the decade.
It went on to win numerous awards, including the Academy Award for Best Original Song and Country Song of the Year and Female Country Vocal of the Year at the Grammy Awards.
In March 2025, Parton lost her husband Dean after almost 60 years of marriage.
Parton married her husband Carl Thomas Dean in 1966 in Ringgold, Georgia
The couple never had children, but helped raise some of her younger siblings in Nashville
Dean died in March 2025 at the age of 82. They married just two months short of age 59.
Dean largely stayed out of the spotlight during their marriage, but was a supportive figure behind the scenes
In her heartbreaking tribute, she reflected on the “many wonderful years” the couple spent together, as she expressed her deep love for Carl and thanked fans for their prayers.
“Carl and I have spent many wonderful years together,” she said. ‘Words cannot do justice to the love we have shared for over sixty years. Thank you for your prayers and condolences.”
Parton and Dean first met at a laundromat in Nashville in 1964, when she was just 18 years old.
The couple married in 1966 and throughout the dizzying heights of fame, Dean remained a constant and supportive figure for Parton behind the scenes.
In 2023, she talked about how they first met in her Channel 5 documentary, Dolly Parton: In Her Own Words.
“I had never been to a laundromat before,” she remembers. ‘I walked outside, there was a handsome man driving past the lame laundrette. And he stepped aside.
“So we started talking and two years later we got married.”
In 2024, Parton gave a rare glimpse into her marriage and revealed the reason why her husband refused to attend events with her.
The iconic star released her debut album Hello, I’m Dolly in 1967, starting her long career in the industry.
Parton pictured at Blockchain Creative Labs’ Dollyverse Event at SXSW in Austin, Texas, in March 2022
On an episode of Bunnie Xo’s Dumb Blonde Podcast, she said that while her late husband loved her music, he was “not the least bit interested in it.”
Recalling a pivotal moment early in their marriage, Parton said she once convinced Dean to attend an awards ceremony in 1967, when she won BMI Song of the Year.
Despite the big win, “homebody” Dean told her, “I wish you the best, but don’t ever ask me to go to another damn thing because I’m not going.” And, she added, he never did.
Throughout their decades together, the couple, who renewed their vows in their Nashville home in 2016, relied on their shared sense of humor to avoid conflict.
The singer spoke fondly of her “hilarious” husband, adding, “He’s quiet and I’m loud, and we’re funny… we have a lot of fun.”
‘Always [there is] there is too much tension, each of us can enjoy it, make up a joke about it to really break the tension, where we don’t let it get to that point.
“We never fought back and forth.”
In late September 2025, Parton addressed fans’ concerns about her health by announcing that she would postpone her Las Vegas residency—originally scheduled for December 4 to December 13 at the Colosseum Theater at Caesars Palace—until September 2026 due to “health concerns.”
She shared the news directly with fans on Instagram, explaining that she had been dealing with health issues that required her to undergo several medical procedures.
Parton performed on the main stage of the Pyramid at the Glastonbury music festival in 2014
“I want fans and audiences to hear directly from me that I unfortunately have to postpone my upcoming concerts in Las Vegas,” Parton wrote.
“As many of you know, I have been dealing with a number of health issues, and my doctors are telling me that I will need to undergo a few procedures.”
In her signature style, she joked that it felt like time for her “100,000-mile check-up,” clarifying that it wasn’t her “usual trip to see.” [her] plastic surgeon.’
“Don’t worry about me shutting down the business because God hasn’t said anything about quitting yet,” she said.
“But I believe He is telling me to slow down now so I can be ready for more great adventures with all of you. I love you and thank you for your understanding.”
In October, the hitmaker’s younger brother, Freida Parton, worried fans when she asked for prayers for Parton.
Hours later, however, Freida returned to Facebook with an update, sharing that she didn’t mean to “scare anyone” and adding that Parton was “a little confused.”
She added that she didn’t mean to “make it sound so serious” and that she made her previous public appeal simply because she believes in “the power of prayer.”
