The country music icon, born Dolly Rebecca Parton, died at the age of 80, according to multiple reports, including The Independent, The Guardian, and Sky News.
Her nephew, Bryan Seaver, identified himself as “son of Cassie Parton” and stated he was “representing the Parton and Owens families” in announcing “the passing of my aunt, Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean.”
Seaver shared the news Tuesday in an Instagram video posted to Parton’s page. “This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality,” he said.
Seaver added, “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. It is an honor, an honor 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.”
“Dolly opened doors, not just for me but for her entire family to reach the potential we didn’t even know was possible,” Seaver also said in the video.
In September 2025, Parton wrote on Instagram: “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,” though she never specified the nature of her health issues.
Her death came after she announced in May 2026 that she was canceling a Las Vegas show, disclosing she had been undergoing treatment for kidney stones for several years.
In mid-August, she said she would not be able to attend a Dollywood appearance, citing dehydration and dizziness, and wrote: “My Nashville doctor has kind of clipped my wings, saying, ‘You ain’t traveling this week.'”
Parton had also acknowledged the emotional toll of losing her husband, Carl Dean, who died March 3, 2025, at age 82 after 58 years of marriage, saying grief left her feeling drained.
Parton recorded classic songs including “Coat of Many Colors,” “Jolene,” and “I Will Always Love You,” becoming one of the best-selling female artists of all time, with over 100 million records sold.
She recorded 26 songs that reached number one on the Billboard country charts, a record for a female artist.
Parton received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2011, in addition to 10 Grammy wins from more than 50 nominations. Her songs “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You” were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Parton was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001.
She received induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
She had been on hand for multiple shows and participating in the creative process when a new musical about her life, “Dolly: An Original Musical,” had its premiere engagement at the Fisher Center on the campus of Belmont University in Nashville in July and August, with the production holding a pre-Broadway run there.
Her Imagination Library, begun in 1995, provided nearly 308 million books free of charge to children in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, and Australia, according to its official website.
Parton’s estimated net worth stood at $450 million as of June 2025, largely from her vast songwriting catalog of over 3,000 songs and her stake in Dollywood.
She was also a published author and noted philanthropist, having received $100 million from Jeff Bezos in 2022 for charitable causes.
Born the fourth of twelve children, Parton grew up in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee.
Her performing career spanned seven decades and only grew in prominence over that time. She died Tuesday in Nashville without specifying a cause of death, her family confirmed.
