Country Icon Dolly Parton Dies at 80

Dolly Parton, the legendary American country singer-songwriter, died at age 80. The announcement was made by a nephew via a social media video. At the end of 2025, she had canceled some concerts due to unspecified health reasons; after her death, it was revealed she had cancer. Parton rose to fame in the 1970s and 1980s with hits like "Jolene," "9 to 5," and "Here You Come Again." She wrote and performed hundreds of songs, recorded over 50 studio albums, and sold more than 100 million copies worldwide. She won 11 Grammy Awards. Her song "I Will Always Love You" became a massive hit when Whitney Houston covered it in 1992. Parton also acted in films, including "9 to 5," and opened the Dollywood theme park in Tennessee in 1986. Born on January 19, 1946, in Tennessee, she was the fourth of 12 children in a poor farming family. She moved to Nashville the day after graduating high school in 1964 and signed a record deal. She married Carl Dean in 1966, and they remained married until his death in 2025. Parton was known for her flamboyant style, including platinum blonde wigs and tight dresses, and became an LGBTQ+ icon. She was also a philanthropist, founding a nonprofit that has distributed over 175 million books to children. In 2002, she told the New York Times that writing songs was as natural as making breakfast.