Dolly Parton, queen of country music, dies at 80

Dolly Parton, the “Queen of Country Music,” a philanthropist supporting a diverse array of projects and causes and Dollywood’s Dreamer-in-Chief, has died, according to her social media accounts.

Parton's death was announced in a video message from her family on her social media pages and confirmed to USA Today. The East Tennessee native was 80 years old.

With a successful career spanning almost 60 years, she was a legend in the music industry, known for hits-turned-classics such as “Jolene,” “I Will Always Love You,” “9 to 5” and “Coat of Many Colors.”

She was also a film star, appearing in films such as “9 to 5,” “Steel Magnolias” and “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.”

Parton released 49 solo studio albums and earned 25 No. 1 hits on the Billboard’s U.S. Hot Country Songs chart, the most of any female country artist. Her first album “Hello, I’m Dolly,” was released in 1967. “Rockstar,” her latest album, was released in 2023 and went No. 1.

“When I die, I hope I just go to sleep one night, dreaming of show business and never waking up,” Parton said at Dollywood in 1998.

Health concerns prevented Parton from attending an announcement about Dollywood's newest ride in September, and later prompted the delay of her planned Las Vegas residency until 2026.

She challenged herself creatively in music, film and stage and often collaborated with other artists. And she branched out of the entertainment industry to build a business empire that included theme parks, hotels, branded Duncan Hines baking kits, fragrances, beauty products, wines, apparel, merchandise and other business ventures.

“I've always had fun (in my career),” Parton told Knox News in 2025. “I've had a lot of hard times, but you have to go through all those things. But I always enjoyed my work.”

“I'm pretty independent. I can do what I please,” she continued. “I love being able to have that freedom. I think freedom is a great word for everybody, anybody, in anything you do. Just having the freedom to work and the freedom to express yourself the way you want to. To do what you want to, go where you want to.”

Parton’s husband of nearly 60 years Carl Dean died last year at age 82. The couple married in 1966 and had no children.

A Smoky Mountain girl with a lasting legacy

Parton was born in 1946 in Locust Ridge in Sevier County to Avie Lee and Robert Lee Parton, the fourth of 12 children. Avie Lee filled the family's two-room East Tennessee home with music by singing hymns, folk songs and traditional mountain music.

By 6 years old, Dolly was singing in her grandfather Rev. Jake Owens’ church.

Parton caught the bus to Nashville the day after she graduated from Sevier County High School in 1964 to chase her country music dreams. Her big break came after joining “The Porter Wagoner Show” in 1967.

Her musical gifts and bubbly personality made her a global icon, and she proudly carried her love for East Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains wherever she went.

“I’m the only person that ever left the Smoky Mountains and took them with her,” Parton joked as only she could during a 2023 Knox News interview. “But seriously, I love these mountains. I'm so proud to be a Tennessee girl, and I'm proud to be a Smoky Mountain girl.”

Parton's beloved Smokies were reflected in the theme park Dollywood’s various rides, foods and other offerings. It originally opened in 1961 as Rebel Railroad. It became Goldrush Junction in 1970 and was Silver Dollar City by 1976.

Attendance more than doubled to 1.3 million when Parton joined forces with brothers Jack and Pete Herschend and transformed the park into Dollywood.

In 1986, Dollywood opened in Pigeon Forge and now sees about 2.5 million guests annually. Its direct annual economic impact to the state is $1.8 billion, according to a 2021 Tennessee Department of Transportation study.

Parton made regular appearances at the park to help reveal new attractions, film projects and attend other events. The Dollywood Company also operates two resorts in the area, DreamMore Resort and Spa (2015) and HeartSong Lodge and Resort (2023).

“Even after I'm gone, we'll still grow. We'll still be going,” she said of Dollywood’s legacy.

The greatest ‘I Will Always Love You’ love story

An 18-year-old Dolly Parton met Carl Dean in 1964 on the very first day she moved to Nashville. She was leaving the Wishy Washy Laundromat when 21-year-old Dean waved and spoke to her. Their love story began.

The couple began dating, but because her record label didn’t want her married, the couple secretly wed in Ringgold, Georgia, in 1966 to keep their nuptials out of Nashville papers.

“He's a good man, and we've had a good life and he's been a good husband,” Parton told Knox News in 2024.

The couple had been together for over 60 years. Dean had been creative inspiration and a vital support system for Parton throughout her career.

“I will always love him, and I miss him,” Parton said at Dollywood nearly two weeks after losing Dean.

A shining light that will never dim

The prolific singer-songwriter was known for her generosity. She donated millions of dollars for college scholarships through her Dollywood Foundation, to support people affected by natural disasters and to promote childhood literacy. She donated $1 million for the research that helped to create the Moderna vaccine for COVID-19 during the pandemic.

After Hurricane Helene caused devastating floods in East Tennessee in 2024, Parton donated $1 million to assist the storm’s flood victims, a gift matched with another $1 million from her East Tennessee businesses and the Dollywood Foundation.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library was one of her proudest philanthropic efforts. Each month, the book gifting program mails free books to children from birth to age 5, regardless of their family’s income. The program gave away almost 200 million books to children worldwide since its launch in 1995.

Parton was named the 2025 recipient of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, an honorary Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Governors Awards, “for her unwavering dedication to charitable efforts."

“I try to do as much good as I can in the area that I've been confined to, and if I'm a light, I hope so, because I ask God to let me shine. Let me do and say things that would be uplifting,” Parton told Knox News in 2023.

Parton earned 11 Grammy wins (including the lifetime achievement award) with 54 nominations, an Emmy with four nominations, two Oscar nominations and a Tony nomination, as well as 13 Academy of Country Music Awards and 10 Country Music Awards.

Parton also received the Kennedy Center honor in 2006 and the National Medal of Arts in 2005, and she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.