Vale Dolly Parton
The Woman Everyone Loved: RIP Dolly Parton
Country music singer, movie star, entrepreneur, humanitarian, and cultural icon Dolly Parton died today in Nashville.
Dolly Rebecca Parton was born in a one-bedroom home in Pittman Center, Tennessee, the fourth of twelve children. They were so poor that her mother once sewed her a coat of mismatched scraps that later inspired her song "Coat of Many Colors." In 1967, she was hired to sing on The Porter Waggoner Show, and stardom followed. When she parted with Waggoner, she wrote the song "I Will Always Love You" about him. Parton sold more than 100 million records and had 25 songs go to #1 on the country charts. She wrote more than 3,000 songs. Elvis Presley wanted to record one of Parton's songs, but she turned him down.
Parton starred in several hit movies in the 1980s, including 9 to 5, Steel Magnolias, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. She also had two TV variety shows and guest starred in numerous others. Parton bought an interest in an amusement park in East Tennessee in 1986 and it became Dollywood. Through her Dollywood Foundation, she headed many philanthropical efforts, most notably Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, which supplies free books for young children. In early 2020, Parton quietly gave Vanderbilt University a million dollars to fund research into a COVID vaccine. She was married to Carl Dean for 59 years until his death in 2025.
Dolly Parton was 80. She will never be replaced.