Dolly Parton, country music legend and icon, has died at age 80. Her family has communicated this through a video on social networks starring the artist’s nephew, Bryan Seaver: «This announcement is something that Dolly asked me for years ago. “It is an honor, one mixed with absolute pride and great sadness, but the sadness is with us, not with Dolly,” he declares.
The cause of death was a “brief fight against cancer” according to a press release from his team. In fact, Parton has died at a medical center dedicated to cancer, as Billboard reports. His last public appearance was in June.
Parton leaves as one of the most important and influential artists in the history of American music, leaving behind a career full of eternal hits: “She has always been on his television, on his album, on his CD and on his playlist, being an extended part of his family whether he likes it or not,” explained his nephew.
Songs like ‘Jolene’, ‘9 to 5’ or ‘I Will Always Love You’, popularized by Whitney Houston’s version, are the history of contemporary music. This story began in Tennessee on January 19, 1946, within a humble family in which Parton stood out from the beginning for her musical talent. Six decades later, during which time she also enjoyed success as an actress in films such as ‘Steel Magnolias’, her work continues to be recognized around the world.
Parton never stopped being in touch with her legacy in the world of pop, collaborating very recently with Sabrina Carpenter on an alternative version of ‘Please Please Please’ or with Miley Cyrus and P!nk on her own album.
Among the stars who have mourned his death are precisely Sabrina Carpenter, also Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Eminem and Kelly Clarkson. Donald Trump, president of the United States, has ordered that flags fly at half-mast for an entire week.
Taylor Swift has indicated that “a world without Dolly doesn’t seem possible, real or right”: “She was truly a gift that never ran out. Dolly offered us a role model while also encouraging us to be who we are as individuals. She managed to convey her lessons about the world to us with delicacy and honesty, and often with a great sense of humor (…) Authentic grace and unwavering firmness combined in her, all in a dazzling person. “He had an extremely sensitive heart in the face of other people’s difficulties, but also a steely determination to defend his own value as an artist.”
Sabrina Carpenter has recalled their video shoot together, praising his “joyful outlook on life, wisdom and perfect sense of humor.” He defined her as “an angel walking on earth” and added: “There will never be anyone like you, how lucky we have been to experience your unique magic (…) Your light is something that people will look for forever.”
Beyoncé, who has also collaborated with Dolly Parton, in addition to having adapted ‘Jolene’ for ‘Cowboy Carter’, has also defined the singer as “an angel who made the world a happier place”: “Dolly, you were the barometer. The North Star. Bold and bright. Talented and tenacious. You gave us many lessons on how to be yourself in a unique way.
Shania Twain has been grateful that she was her “mentor, as well as her teacher and hero of grace and humility.” Barbra Streisand has called her “a true force of nature.” Kelly Clarkson has praised that he knew how to make “everyone feel special.”
Among the surprises, the contribution of Eminem, who received a note from Dolly Parton when he entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. In it he indicated that he felt “an inexplicable connection” with him, as if he knew him from something. «It’s a shame that we never had the chance to meet, but receiving this note from Dolly really impacted me. Even for someone who grew up listening to rap like me, she was an icon. A superstar in every sense.
Billboard reminds that Dolly Parton has left a song ready for its premiere in 2046, when she would have turned 100 years old. That song is called ‘My Place In History’, and it’s safely hidden in a Dolly Parton-inspired resort, Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort.
On the other hand, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2014, the artist even speculated about her own death. At that time she assumed that people would listen to ‘I Will Always Love You’, “as happened with Whitney”, when she was gone, but she actually chose as the song she would like played at her funeral, an old country-gospel classic called ‘If We Never Meet Again’, as it was her father’s favorite, and the one that was played at his funeral.
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