Newy 87.8 FM – Country music superstar Dolly Parton has died at the age of 80.
Her death was announced on Tuesday, 25 August, in a prerecorded video message from her nephew Bryan Seaver, who worked as her head of security. No cause of death was given.
Parton had been unwell for several months. In May she cancelled a run of Las Vegas performances, saying she was not at what she called stage performance level, and she had since been treated for kidney stones and digestive and immune problems.
"Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus," Mr Seaver said in the announcement.
Born in Tennessee on 19 January 1946, Parton released her debut album Hello, I’m Dolly in 1967 and went on to record close to 50 studio albums, selling more than 100 million records. She won 10 Grammy Awards from 55 nominations.
She wrote Jolene and I Will Always Love You, and made her film debut in 9 to 5 in 1980. She opened the Dollywood theme park in Tennessee and founded the Dollywood Foundation in 1988, whose Imagination Library has posted free books to children around the world.
Her husband of nearly 60 years, Carl Dean, died in March 2025 at the age of 82.
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