Country Music Legend Dolly Parton Dies Aged 80

Image Source: Wonderwall

Dolly Parton, singer, songwriter, and philanthropist, passed away at the age of 80. Parton was best known as a country music star with hits like "Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You", which was later covered by Whitney Houston. She also ran an Imagination Library to give books to young children to increase literacy. Her nephew Brian Seaver announced the sad news with a heartfelt Instagram video. He said, “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.” He continued, “Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by [her husband] Carl, her parents, and countless others who have watched her and longed for her to meet them in the heavens.”

Parton was born in poverty in 1946 in Locust Ridge, Tennessee to Avie Lee and Robert Lee Parton. She was the fourth of 12 children, yet always dreamed of becoming a star. Her first guitar was a mandolin with bass strings, and the famous song "Coat of Many Colors" was a reference to patchwork clothes her mother created for her children. After graduating high school, Parton hopped on a bus to Nashville, where she began work as a pop singer. Her career took off when Parton switched to country music. In a 2023 interview with Knox News, Parton quipped, “I’m the only person that ever left the Smoky Mountains and took them with her.” She later returned to her roots by purchasing Tennessee’s Silver Dollar City and transforming it into Dollywood. In addition to her Imagination Library, Parton created the Dollywood Foundation to award scholarships and help students graduate high school. She has donated to a bald eagle rescue and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. 

Parton sported an iconic look with big hair and bold rhinestones, leading to her famous one-liner: “it takes a lot of money to look this cheap.” Seaver added in his Instagram post that Parton asked to be buried “in a beautiful bed of plush cotton, because after a life wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and have some rest.” Rest easy, Dolly.

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Source(s): The Guardian, USA Today

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