Linda Ronstadt has responded to the passing of her friend and occasional collaborator Dolly Parton on social media.
The Tucson icon shared a note on Facebook, saying, "I am deeply saddened by the passing of my friend, Dolly Parton. One of the most extraordinary musical experiences of my life was recording with her. The world is a poorer place without her.”
Dolly Parton has admitted she is currently dealing with some “health issues” that she ignored when she was caring for her late husband Carl Thomas Dean, who died in March 2025 at age 82.
Ronstadt and Parton famously joined forces with Emmylou Harris on two hit albums.
Released in 1987, "Trio" spent five weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's Country chart and hit No. 6 on the Billboard 200. The album picked up a Grammy for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and produced four Top 10 singles on the Billboard charts, including a chart-topping cover of "To Know Him Is to Love Him," a Phil Spector classic first recorded with the Teddy Bears.
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The album was named Album of the Year by the Academy of Country Music and Vocal Event of the Year by the Country Music Association.
Dustin Lynn spends time at a mural of Dolly Parton Tuesday in Nashville, Tenn.
In 1999, they followed through with "Trio II," which peaked at No. 4 on Billboard's country chart and included a breathtaking cover of Neil Young's "After The Gold Rush" that took home a Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals.
In 2019, Parton, Ronstadt and Harris received a joint star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for their work on those albums.
The three singers reportedly met in a Beverly Hills Hotel room in 1975.
Long before "Trio," Parton contributed unmistakably Parton-esque harmonies to Ronstadt's wonderfully sparse and beautiful rendition of the traditional ballad "I Never Will Marry," which became a Top 10 country hit in the summer of '78 when released as the flip side of "Tumbling Dice," her cover of a Rolling Stones song.
