Dolly Parton, the American country music singer who rose from poverty in Tennessee to become a US cultural giant with hits like Jolene and 9 To 5, has died at 80, her family said on Aug 25.
Parton died after a brief battle with cancer, her third cousin Brent Allen confirmed to AFP news agency. Her husband Carl Dean died in 2025.
Parton had recently spoken about unspecified health challenges.
“I feel like she’s one of the last of the salt of the earth. She brought people together,” Allen told AFP in Sevierville, Tennessee, the singer’s home town.
A small private funeral service will be held, People magazine said, citing the singer’s representatives.
Parton was more than a singer. She wrote 3,000 songs, acted in major Hollywood films, and donated millions of dollars to charities in her home state and beyond.
She was also an accomplished businesswoman, with her interests spanning from her popular Dollywood theme park to cosmetics, pet apparel, baking mixes and even a truck stop.
Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus,” her nephew Bryan Seaver said in a video on social media.
He said the multiple award-winning artiste – known for her glittering style, curvy figure and larger-than-life blonde wigs – had “opened doors for generations of singers, songwriters, musicians and dreamers from every walk of life”.
US President Donald Trump ordered flags lowered across the country, and New York’s Empire State Building was to be lit in pink at 9.25pm local time – a nod to Parton’s hit song and movie 9 To 5.
‘Devastated’
The news sparked a rare moment of unity in a country often bitterly at odds over Trump’s presidency, the war against Iran and cultural issues, with tributes quickly pouring in for the Parton.
“May her legacy live on through her songs, the lives she touched, and the countless artistes she inspired. There will never, ever be another one like her,” the Grand Ole Opry, America’s temple of country music, said on social media.
Her co-stars from the hit 1980 movie 9 To 5, which sparked her soundtrack smash, expressed their shock.