Watch: Audience gasps as Dolly Parton’s death is announced on stage at 9 to 5 musicalYour support helps us to tell the story
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The news of Dolly Parton’s death has been met with widespread heartbreak after the country music icon died at 80 following a “brief battle” with cancer.
According to TMZ, the singer will be buried in the mausoleum at Woodlawn Memorial Park in Nashville, Tennessee, next to her husband Carl Dean, who died last year.
Singer Miley Cyrus, Parton’s goddaughter, remembered her “Aunt Dolly” as an “angel,” saying, “I will always love her and want to make her proud.
“My heart breaks for the world, her family and friends who will miss her deeply,” Cyrus said.
Everyone from Taylor Swift and Beyoncé to Eminem and Linda Ronstadt paid tribute to Parton, describing her as “the gift that kept on giving” and saying her legacy would be “an everlasting one.” Paul McCartney also remembered Parton, saying her songwriting, singing, and philanthropy were “unrivaled in the world of country music.”
Parton’s nephew Bryan Seaver announced the news of her death saying: “Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus.” Her representative later confirmed that she had died at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, surrounded by loved ones.
US president Donald Trump ordered flags to fly at half-staff in the US to honor Parton, writing: “This is a true loss for millions of people. There has never been anyone like her, and never will.”
Full story: Country legend dies aged 80 after a brief battle with cancer
Her death was announced by her nephew, Bryan Seaver, in an Instagram video posted Tuesday afternoon. The musician’s publicist confirmed Parton’s cancer diagnosis to the Associated Press later in the day, but did not give further details on her illness.
“Our beloved Dolly Parton spent her life and career bringing joy, laughter, hope and integrity into everything she touched. Her unmatched generosity reached the lives of countless people whom she would never meet, yet she was always there to offer a helping hand,” the statement from her reps to People magazine read.
“Whether it be the hundreds of millions of books donated through her invaluable Imagination Library or funding research that helped create a lifesaving vaccine used around the world, Dolly’s unconditional love for all people was the guiding force for her lasting impact. After bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her Earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones.”
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Jacob Stolworthy & Kevin E G Perry26 August 2026 04:08
Sandra Bullock recalls working with Dolly Parton
Parton played herself in the 2005 film Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous.
Speaking at the Wednesday night London premiere of Practical Magic 2, Bullock recalled working with the late country legend.
“I hated flying for the longest time, and I used to just take a tour bus everywhere and I would sleep on the tour bus,” Bullock recalled. “[Parton] came to Vegas, and she pulled her tour bus up next to mine—I think it was pink, of course—And I said, ‘Okay, So, Miss Parton, we’ve got a hotel and room for you that’s massive.’ And she goes, ‘No, I’ll stay in the bus.’”
When Bullock asked where Parton would do her hair and makeup, she replied: “Oh, I’ll do it on the bus.”
The Queen of Country also told Bullock she’d sleep on the bus, prompting Bullock to reply, “Then I’m sleeping on the bus.”
“So she and I slept side-by-side on the bus,” Bullock said.
“She’s here. She sprinkles everywhere,” Bullock added of Parton. “She’s not going anywhere.”
Caitlin Hornik27 August 2026 13:36
Flags to fly at half-staff for Dolly
Following the news of Dolly’s death, President Trump ordered flags to fly at half-staff for one week “as a mark of respect for the memory” of Parton.
The tribute is slated to last longer than those for Pope Francis and Lindsey Graham.
Caitlin Hornik27 August 2026 13:28
Obama says few will have ‘bigger impact than Dolly Parton’
Former President Barack Obama is among the many to pay tribute to Parton, writing on X:
“It’s hard to imagine many people having a bigger impact than Dolly Parton. Born in a one-room cabin, she earned 11 Grammys and an Emmy, built a business empire, helped millions of kids learn to read, and — as if that wasn’t enough — helped accelerate the research that led to the Moderna COVID vaccine. What a life. Michelle and I are thinking of Dolly’s family and her many, many fans.”
Caitlin Hornik27 August 2026 13:18
How Dolly Parton redefined Glastonbury’s Legends slot
One Sunday teatime back in 2014, the Queen of Country drew one of the biggest crowds Glastonbury has ever seen – outshining that year’s blokey line-up and raising the bar for the now-beloved Legends slot.
Lauren Morris27 August 2026 13:00
Dollywood will remain open after Dolly Parton’s death
Dollywood will remain open following Dolly Parton’s death, with the Tennessee theme park saying it is doing so in accordance with her wishes.
The park, which Parton helped establish in 1986 after partnering with Herschend Family Entertainment, welcomed visitors on Wednesday, one day after her death at 80. A representative told People that Parton had always emphasised that “the show must go on”.
Dollywood Parks & Resorts President Eugene Naughton also shared a tribute to its founder saying: “Dolly’s heart was as vast as the mountains she cherished, and her compassion knew no bounds. She inspired generations to dream boldly and love deeply. While we grieve her loss, we are honoured, and committed to carry her light forward.”
Parton’s connection to Dollywood went far beyond lending it her name. The 165-acre park in Pigeon Forge became one of Tennessee’s biggest attractions and a major part of her legacy in the Great Smoky Mountains, where she grew up. It includes more than 50 attractions, alongside a water park and two resorts.
Lauren Morris27 August 2026 12:30
Dolly Parton: How country music’s most famous face remained an enigma to the end
“The Queen of Country’s death at the age of 80 has been announced by her family, sparking a global outpouring of grief. While she may have had a look that was easy to replicate, she was unquestionably one of a kind,” writes Kevin E G Perry in this tribute piece.
Lauren Morris27 August 2026 12:00
Has Dolly Parton ever received the Presidential Medal of Freedom?
Dolly Parton has never received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but that doesn’t mean she was never offered it.
Parton, known for not only her music but also her philanthropy, told Today in 2021 that President Donald Trump offered her the highest civilian honor twice during his first term.
“I couldn’t accept it because my husband was ill and then they asked me again about it and I wouldn’t travel because of the COVID,” she said.
Parton, who made it a point not to get involved with politics during her career, said she heard from then- President Joe Biden about the medal, but, “Now I feel like if I take it, I’ll be doing politics, so I’m not sure.”
“But I don’t work for those awards,” she added. “It’d be nice but I’m not sure that I even deserve it. But it’s a nice compliment for people to think that I might deserve it.”
Tom Murray27 August 2026 11:31
The Elvis deal Dolly Parton refused and why it paid off
Dolly Parton once turned down the chance to have Elvis Presley record “I Will Always Love You” because his manager wanted a share of the song’s publishing rights.
Presley loved the song and planned to record it, but the night before the session, Colonel Tom Parker told Parton that Elvis would not record a song unless his team received publishing rights or “at least half the publishing”, as Parton recalled.
She refused. “This is the most important copyright in my whole publishing company, and I can’t do that,” she remembered telling him.
“I cried all night,” she told CMT in 2006 about her decision. “It was like the worst thing. You know, it’s like, ‘Oh, my God … Elvis Presley.’”
It was a painful decision at the time, but Parton retained ownership of the composition, which became enormously valuable when Whitney Houston recorded it for The Bodyguard in 1992. Houston’s version spent 14 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, turning Parton’s song into a global standard.
Shahana Yasmin27 August 2026 11:00
Dolly Parton gave her name to the world’s most famous sheep
Dolly Parton became the namesake of one of the most famous animals in scientific history when the first mammal cloned from an adult cell was named after her.
Dolly the sheep was born at Scotland’s Roslin Institute on July 5 1996, after scientists used a cell taken from the mammary gland of a six-year-old Finn Dorset sheep. She was cloned using a technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer and became the first mammal successfully cloned from an adult cell.
Professor Ian Wilmut with Dolly the sheep in the National Museums of Scotland (Maurice McDonald/PA) (PA Archive)
“Dolly was christened by John Bracken, one of the men who paced anxiously about day and night as we waited for the birth of the lamb,” Ian Wilmut, the scientist who led the Roslin Institute team that cloned Dolly, told Nature in 2007.
Dolly lived for six years and died in 2003. Her body was preserved and is now displayed at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.
Shahana Yasmin27 August 2026 10:45