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Dolly Parton, Country Music Icon and Beloved Entertainer, Dies at 80

Dolly Parton, the beloved country music icon, singer, songwriter, actress, and philanthropist, has died at the age of 80, her family confirmed.

Published

3 weeks ago

August 25, 2026

Amber Sinclair

DOLLY PARTON, QUEEN OF COUNTRY MUSIC, HAS DIED AT 80

TL;DR: Dolly Parton, the singer, songwriter, actress, and philanthropist beloved across generations, has died at 80. Her family confirmed the news Tuesday.

Remembering Dolly Parton, an American Icon

Dolly Parton has died at 80, her family confirmed Tuesday. Her nephew and longtime head of security, Bryan Seaver, announced her passing in a video message shared to her social media, saying the announcement was “something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality.” No cause of death has been given. Parton had spoken publicly since September 2025 about ongoing health challenges, including a postponed Las Vegas residency and treatment tied to kidney stones and immune and digestive issues, but as recently as this spring she assured fans in a video that nothing major was wrong.

Parton’s death comes a little over a year after losing her husband of nearly 59 years, Carl Dean, who died in March 2025 at age 82. The two married in 1966 after meeting outside a Nashville laundromat the day she arrived in the city, and Parton has spoken often about how deeply that loss affected her in the time since.

Have a memory of Dolly Parton you want to share? Send it our way at amber@soapoperamagazine.com, we’d love to hear from you.

A Six-Decade Legacy in Music and Beyond

Over a career spanning more than 60 years, Parton became one of the best-selling music artists in history, with more than 100 million records sold and 25 number-one country singles, a record for a female artist. She wrote more than 3,000 songs, including “Jolene,” “9 to 5,” and “I Will Always Love You,” the latter written about her split from mentor Porter Wagoner and later turned into a global hit by Whitney Houston. Parton earned 11 Grammy Awards, three Emmy Awards, and a Kennedy Center Honor, and in 2025 she was named the recipient of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, an honorary Oscar recognizing her philanthropic work.

That philanthropy became as much a part of her legacy as her music. Through the Dollywood Foundation, Parton’s Imagination Library mailed free books to children from birth through kindergarten, reaching hundreds of thousands of families across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, and Ireland every month. Per the Hollywood Reporter, Parton’s family has asked that, instead of flowers, well-wishers consider donations to the Imagination Library in her memory.

Share your favorite Dolly Parton memory or song in the comments below.

Sending Our Condolences

Dolly Parton’s warmth, wit, and generosity touched people far beyond country music or Hollywood, and it’s genuinely hard to put into words what her loss means to so many. From “9 to 5” to “Jolene” to decades of quiet, extraordinary kindness through her charitable work, she leaves behind a legacy that shaped culture for generations and will keep doing so for many more.

Join us on our Facebook page to share your own memories of Dolly Parton and what she meant to you.

Author

Amber Sinclair

Amber Sinclair — Editor-in-Chief
Amber Sinclair is the Editor-in-Chief of Soap Opera Magazine, appointed in February 2026. She oversees editorial strategy, content development, and daily coverage across all major daytime dramas including The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful, General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, and Beyond the Gates.
With more than a decade in the soap opera industry and over 25,000 published articles to her name, Amber has pretty much lived and breathed daytime television for as long as she can remember. Before taking the helm at Soap Opera Magazine, she served as Managing Editor at SoapHub, Editor-in-Chief at Daily Drama, and Senior Editor at Soap Shows. She's hosted podcasts, gone toe-to-toe in interviews with daytime's biggest stars, and covered more red carpets than she can count.
When she's not crafting headlines that drip with drama or deep-diving into the latest storyline twists, Amber can be found in Ontario, Canada — probably rewatching a classic episode and taking notes. Want to share your wildest soap theories? She actually reads every email at amber@soapoperamagazine.com — and yes, she will reply if your take is unhinged enough.

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