Dolly Parton remembered as a legend – in music and in life
News of Dolly Parton’s death reverberated around the world today — across generations, from musicians to actors, politicians and everyday fans.
She died Tuesday from cancer, her publicist said. She was 80.
Parton was a legend of country music, rising from playing guitar in a log cabin in rural Tennessee to megastardom.
But as much as she is being remembered for her hundreds of songs — including Jolene and I Will Always Love You, as well as Coat of Many Colours and her duet with Kenny Rogers, Islands in the Stream — she is also being remembered for her kindness and philanthropy.
Former U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton wrote that Parton “did all the good she could, for all the people she could, for as long as ever she could.”
She sold more than 100 million copies of her songs worldwide and had more than one billion online streams.
And Parton used the money she made for good, establishing her Dollywood Foundation and, through it, the Imagination Library, which gave books to underprivileged children around the world. She donated to medical centres and disaster relief, as well as to HIV/AIDS charities.
In 2020, she donated $1 million US toward early research for a COVID-19 vaccine.
U.S. President Donald Trump ordered American flags lowered in her honour.
Fellow singers and actors posted tributes throughout the day.
Her 1980 co-star from the comedy 9 to 5, Jane Fonda, urged people to “be grateful for all that she has left us to ease our sadness now.”
You can read CBC News’s full obituary of Dolly Parton here, or continue to read about the tributes to her below.