Dolly Parton died Tuesday, August 25, at 80. The Parton family announced her death through a video posted to her official Instagram account by her nephew, Bryan Seaver, saying she passed peacefully in Nashville. Her representatives later confirmed she died of cancer at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, though the specific type was not disclosed.
Parton had been dealing with health issues over the past year that led her to cancel a planned Las Vegas residency and miss a major Dollywood event, with her doctor advising her to stay in Nashville. Those setbacks came after the death of her husband of nearly 60 years, Carl Dean, in March 2025, a loss she later said left her “worn down and worn out” and grieving heavily even as she kept working.
Her Wishes for a Simple Burial
Seaver said Parton asked to be buried wrapped in soft cotton rather than the rhinestones and elaborate costuming she wore throughout her career, telling family she wanted “to rest in a beautiful bed of plush cotton” after a lifetime in heavier stage wear. Dollywood said it will remain open, calling that Parton’s own wish for the park she founded in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
A Six-Decade Career That Reshaped Country Music
Parton wrote and recorded some of the most enduring songs in American music, including “Jolene,” “9 to 5,” and “I Will Always Love You,” a song she wrote in 1973 that later became a global hit for Whitney Houston. She built a career and a business empire that stretched far beyond music, from Dollywood, the Tennessee theme park she founded, to the Imagination Library, a childhood literacy program that has distributed free books to millions of children worldwide.
Recognition That Spanned Generations
Parton was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, decades after already being a fixture in the Country Music Hall of Fame, and in 2024 Billboard named her the number one artist on its list of the 100 Greatest Country Artists of All Time. Earlier this year, artists including Miley Cyrus, Queen Latifah, and Reba McEntire joined her on a re-recording of “Light of a Clear Blue Morning” for her 80th birthday, with proceeds going to pediatric cancer research at Vanderbilt’s Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital.
Why This Announcement Is Different From Past Hoaxes
Parton has been the subject of repeated false death reports over the years, including an AI-generated hoax as recently as this month showing fabricated deathbed images. Tuesday’s news is confirmed through a direct statement from her family, posted by a family member on her own verified account, rather than through anonymous social media posts or fabricated news pages, the distinction that separates this from the false reports that have circulated before.
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[…] died August 25 at 80, after what her publicist called a brief battle with cancer. She had been hospitalized four days […]