Legendary country music singer Dolly Parton has died at the age of 80. She passed away on Tuesday, 25 August 2026, in Nashville, in the United States, with her family saying she died peacefully.
Parton grew up in a small log cabin in the mountains of Tennessee, one of 12 children in a poor family. She began singing in church as a child, and by the age of 13 she was performing on the famous Grand Ole Opry stage in Nashville.
Over her long career, Parton wrote hundreds of songs, including much-loved hits like Jolene, I Will Always Love You and 9 to 5. Her songs have sold more than 100 million copies around the world and been streamed more than a billion times online.
As well as being a singer, Parton was an actress, author and businesswoman. She opened her own theme park, Dollywood, in the Smoky Mountains near where she grew up, and it is still a popular tourist spot today. Parton was known for her generosity, too. She started a charity called Imagination Library, which sends free books to children, because her own father never learned to read properly.
Her husband, Carl Dean, died last year after the couple had been married for nearly 60 years. Tributes have been pouring in from fans and fellow musicians all over the world, remembering Parton’s music, humour and kindness.
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