Parton died peacefully in Nashville, Tennessee, on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, her publicist confirmed. Her family also announced her death in a statement. A cause of death has not been publicly announced.
Born Dolly Rebecca Parton on January 19, 1946, in Tennessee, she grew up as one of 12 children. Music entered her life early. She was performing on local radio as a child and appeared at the Grand Ole Opry when she was 13. After graduating from high school, she moved to Nashville and began pursuing music full time.
Her career took off during her years working with country singer Porter Wagoner. Parton later left Wagoner's television show to concentrate on her solo career, writing "I Will Always Love You" as a farewell to him. The song became one of her best-known compositions and gained another life decades later when Whitney Houston recorded it for The Bodyguard.
Parton also wrote and recorded songs including "Jolene," "Coat of Many Colors" and "9 to 5." Her recordings sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, while her songwriting catalog grew to an estimated 3,000 songs.
Her career eventually moved far beyond country music. Parton appeared in films including 9 to 5, Steel Magnolias and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. She also became a major business figure through projects such as Dollywood, the Tennessee theme park that opened in 1986.
Away from entertainment, Parton put much of her money into education and community programs. Her Imagination Library program sends free books to young children and expanded from Tennessee into several countries. She also donated $1 million toward COVID-19 research at Vanderbilt University in 2020.
Parton's husband, Carl Dean, died in 2025 at the age of 82. The two had been married since 1966. Dean largely stayed outside the public eye throughout Parton's career.
Parton continued working into her later years, recording new music and developing television, film and stage projects. A Broadway musical based on her life had been scheduled to open in December 2026.
For generations of listeners, Dolly Parton was closely tied to songs about family, poverty, heartbreak, work and love. She once said that above everything else she had accomplished, she wanted people to remember her as a songwriter.
She was 80.
