Legendary country music singer and songwriter Dolly Parton has died at the age of 80.
Parton’s nephew disclosed her death in an Instagram video on Tuesday, August 25.
The announcement came days after Parton spoke publicly about her declining health following the death of her husband, Carl Thomas Dean, in March 2025. In an August 21 update, she said she was dealing with health issues she had neglected while caring for Dean.
“But I think because we live in a 24/7 world with social media, everything gets magnified in ways it wasn’t years ago,” Parton said, adding that she was “still healin’” but continued to work on her projects.
Parton enjoyed a career spanning more than five decades and became the best-selling female country music artist of all time, selling more than 160 million albums worldwide.
She released her debut album, Hello, I’m Dolly, in 1967 and went on to produce major hits including “I Will Always Love You,” “9 to 5” and “Jolene.”
Her career also included Grammy wins, acting roles and numerous other projects, including a musical inspired by her life titled “Dolly”.
