Country music legend Dolly Parton dead at 80

Singer spoke about ‘hard times’ four days before death

Published Aug 25, 2026  •  Last updated 3 minutes ago  •  5 minute read

Dolly Parton attends the Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards at Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas, on May 11, 2023. Photo by SUZANNE CORDEIRO /AFP via Getty Images

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Country music legend Dolly Parton has died at the age of 80.

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Parton’s nephew, Bryan Seaver, revealed the news in a social media video in which he said it was an “honour” to have worked for his aunt as her head of security.

“My name is Bryan Seaver, son of Cassie Parton, and I’m representing the Parton and Owens family today announcing the passing of my aunt, Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean, Sister, Sis and Granny to one generation and Gigi to the next,” he said in the video. “This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality. As her head of security for more than two decades, a role my father Larry held before me, I have imagined the heaviness of this moment but haven’t truly felt it until now.”

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Seaver added: “It is an honour, an honour that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness. But sadness lies with us, not with Dolly. Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by (her husband) Carl, her parents and countless others who have watched her and longed to meet her in the heavens.”

Parton’s nephew said he first went out on the road with the singer when he was a kid in the early 1980s.

“Dolly opened doors not just for me but for her entire family to reach the potential we didn’t even know was possible. Dolly also opened doors for generations of singers, songwriters, musicians and dreamers from every walk of life and across every continent,” Seaver continued in the video message. “By her example, we believed that anything is possible. She never saw a door she couldn’t open, and the doors she opened made and changed history.

Dolly Parton and husband Carl Dean Photo by Dolly Parton /Instagram

“My family and I have shared a lifetime of beautiful memories with Dolly, but so have you. She has always been on your television, your record player, your CD and on your phone playlist, becoming an extended part of your family whether you liked it or not,” he said. “Our family and the team she has entrusted with her legacy will work diligently to ensure her spirit will live with us forever. Dolly was a farmer, just like her daddy; he farmed the soil, she farmed songs and happiness. Dolly called me and said she wants to rest in a beautiful bed of plush cotton because after a life of wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and have some rest.”

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Seaver ended his statement by telling Parton’s fans “she will always love you.”

“Rest in peace, Aunt Dolly — Aunt, Granny, Gigi. May God bless Dolly Parton, and may God bless you all,” Seaver said.

‘I’m gonna keep on working as long as I can’

Just four days before her death, Parton told PEOPLE she had been struggling with “some health issues” while she was caring for her late husband Carl, who died last year.

“As I’ve shared in video messages throughout the past year, I am dealing with some health issues that I just didn’t pay attention to when I was watching over Carl,” she said at the time. “You know, this isn’t the first time I’ve had to manage something like this. Back in the early ’80s, I was down for several months with female issues, and I was struggling with my weight at the time too, so it’s not like I haven’t been through hard times with my health.”

In this file photo taken on March 7, 2022, Dolly Parton arrives for the 57th Academy of Country Music awards at the Allegiant stadium in Las Vegas. Photo by BRIDGET BENNETT /AFP via Getty Images

After cancelling a planned Las Vegas residency in the spring, Parton promised she wasn’t going to stop working towards returning to the live stage.

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“Even though I’m still healin’, I’m still workin’! You know me — as I’ve often said — I’ve dreamed myself into a corner and I still have so many things I want to achieve, so I’m gonna keep on working as long as I can to see everything come to life,” she said.

During her six-decade long career, the undisputed “Queen of Country Music” released 49 studio albums and more than 100 compilation and collaboration albums. Parton sold more than 100 million records worldwide and won 11 Grammys.

Parton made her debut on the Grand Ole Opry’s stage at age 13 and wrote more than 3,000 tunes, including 1973’s Jolene and the iconic ballad I Will Always Love You. But  she credited her success on the stage to her long relationship with her husband Carl, whom she said was her biggest cheerleader.

“I’ve always had dreams and I’m always working. My husband understood that. Carl knew that better than anybody and he was all about it. He was very proud of me,” she said. “So when I did lose him, I just thought, well, I’m going to take all of that energy, and I’m just going to put that back into other things, and I’ll keep him ever-present in everything that I do.”

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Parton was still plotting a comeback

Last fall, Parton, who was was born on January 19, 1946 in Sevierville, Tennessee, postponed a residency she had booked in Las Vegas, citing “health challenges.”

“As many of you know, I have been dealing with some health challenges, and my doctors tell me that I must have a few procedures,” the singer-songwriter posted on social media, without disclosing specifics.

Parton also missed out on her induction into the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions’ Hall of Fame and an honorary Oscar ceremony last November, but she assured fans she wasn’t “dying.”

“There are just a lot of rumours flying around. But I figured if you heard it from me, you’d know that I was okay,” Parton said in a video posted on Instagram. “I’m not ready to die yet. I don’t think God is through with me. And I ain’t done working.”

Parton officially nixed her Sin City dates in May, but promised her fans she was going to do everything she could to perform live again.

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“I have some good news and a little bad news. But the good news is, I’m responding really well to meds and treatments, and I’m improving every day. Now, the bad news is that it’s gonna take me a little while before I’m up to stage performance level because some of the meds and treatments make me a little bit swimmy-headed, as my grandma used to say,” she said in an Instagram video at the time.

Parton went on to add that she’s always had “problems with my kidney stones.”

“Lord, they dig more stones out of me a year than the rock quarry in Rockwood, Tennessee. But seriously, my immune system and my digestive system got all out of whack over the past couple, three years, and they’re working real hard on rebuilding and strengthening those. And hopefully, I’ll be up to snuff again soon,” she said.

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