Dolly Parton, country music icon, dies at 80 - NBC News

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Dolly Parton, who rose from a loving if impoverished upbringing in the mountains of East Tennessee to become the “Queen of Country” music, a Hollywood star and a beloved American icon, has died, her family announced Tuesday.

Her team confirmed the death and said the star had faced a brief battle with cancer and died Tuesday surrounded by her loved ones.

Parton’s nephew, Brian Seaver, announced the news in a video posted on her Instagram.

“My name is Brian Seaver, son of Cassie Parton, and I’m representing the Parton and Owens family today announcing the passing of my aunt, Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean, Sister, Sis and Granny to one generation and Gigi to the next,” Seaver said in a video.

“This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality. 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 till now,” he added.

Seaver added that Parton “lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by [her late husband] Carl, her parents, and countless others.”

“Rest in peace, Aunt Dolly — Aunt, Granny, Gigi. May God bless Dolly Parton, and may God bless you all. She will always love you,” Seaver said at the end of the video statement.

The star’s team honored her legacy, saying she “spent her life and career bringing joy, laughter, hope and integrity into everything she touched.”

“Her unmatched generosity reached the lives of countless people whom she would never meet, yet she was always there to offer a helping hand,” Team Dolly said in a statement Tuesday. “Dolly’s unconditional love for all people was the guiding force for her lasting impact.”

As word of Parton’s death spread, the tributes began pouring in.

President Donald Trump ordered U.S. flags lowered to half-staff nationwide for one week while a constellation of the entertainment world’s biggest stars weighed in with condolences.

Her death comes after Parton announced in May that she was canceling a Las Vegas show and had been undergoing treatment for kidney stones for several years.

"Lord, they dig more stones out of me a year than the rock quarry in Rockwood, Tennessee," Parton said in a statement. "But seriously, my immune system and my digestive system got all out of whack over the past couple three years, and they’re working real hard on rebuilding and strengthening those, and hopefully, I’ll be up to snuff again soon."

On Friday, Parton acknowledged she had lost a step after her husband, Carl Dean, died in March 2025. But she insisted she wasn’t ready to leave the stage.

“Even though I’m still healin’,” Parton told People. “I’m still workin’! You know me — as I’ve often said — I’ve dreamed myself into a corner, and I still have so many things I want to achieve, so I’m gonna keep on working as long as I can to see everything come to life.”

During her more than 60-year career, Parton sold over 100 million records and won 11 Grammy Awards, making her one of the bestselling musical performers of all time.

Parton also became a star on the silver screen, gaining a whole new audience and critical acclaim when she brought her Southern charm to movies like “9 to 5” (she wrote and sang the theme song), “Steel Magnolias” and "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas."

Bedecked in blond bouffant hairdos and never without her makeup, Parton also became one of the nation’s best-known brands who parried questions about her hourglass figure and augmented breasts with her signature self-deprecating wit.

“It costs a lot of money to look this cheap,” Parton once said.

Parton was a shrewd businesswoman who amassed an estimated $650 million fortune and maintained creative control in the cutthroat and male-dominated music industry. She presided over an entertainment empire that included the Dollywood theme park. And she was a devoted philanthropist who launched the Dollywood Foundation to provide poverty relief and fund educational programs in her native East Tennessee.

Never shy at expressing her Christian faith, Parton was also a public supporter of the LGBTQ community who advocated for marriage equality and spoke up in defense of transgender people.