Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton has passed away at the age of 80. While the news is shocking, it is somewhat not a total surprise as it had been reported that she had been battling some serious health issues and had been cancelling recent appearances. 

Here is the release: 

Country Music Hall of Famer Dolly Parton passed away today (8/25) in Nashville at the age of 80. Born Dolly Rebecca Parton on Jan. 19, 1946, she went on to become a prolific singer, songwriter, actress, philanthropist and businesswoman with a career spanning nearly 60 years. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton released her debut album, Hello, I’m Dolly, in 1967 leading to success throughout the remainder of the 1960s, both as a solo artist and with a series of duet albums with Porter Wagoner. Parton has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, including 44 career Top 10 country albums and 110 charted singles. She has composed more than 3,000 songs, and her catalog of hits includes “I Will Always Love You,” “Jolene,” “Coat Of Many Colors,” “Here You Come Again” and “Why’d You Come In Here Lookin’ Like That.” In addition to her work with Wagoner, Parton charted hit duets with Willie Nelson (“Everything’s Beautiful [In Its Own Way]”), Smokey Robinson (“I Know You By Heart”), Ricky Van Shelton (“Rockin’ Years”) and Kenny Rogers (“The Greatest Gift Of All,” “Real Love,” “Christmas Without You,” “I Believe In Santa Claus” and “Islands In The Stream”). She also collaborated with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt on the Trio album; with Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette on the Honky Tonk Angels project; and released “Romeo” with Billy Ray Cyrus, Tanya Tucker, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Kathy Mattea and Pam Tillis. Many of her songs saw crossover success on the pop charts, as well. 

As an actress, Parton can be seen in 9 To 5, The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk. Parton also co-owned Sandollar Productions, which produced her Academy Award winning documentary Common Threads: Stories From The Quilt (1989) as well as the television series “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” (1997-2003) and feature films Father Of The Bride and Father Of The Bride: Part II, among others. She owns The Dollywood Company, which manages a number of entertainment venues, including the Dollywood theme park and Splash Country water park. Parton also found a number of charitable organizations, chief of which is the Dollywood Foundation, which manages a number of projects to bring educations and poverty relief to her native East Tennessee, and the Imagination Library, which provides free books for children from birth to age five. Parton has earned 50 Grammy nominations and won 11 Grammys, including the Lifetime Achievement Award; 10 CMA Awards, including being one of only seven women to take home the organization’s Entertainer of the Year trophy; five ACM Awards; four People’s Choice Awards; three American Music Awards; and 48 BMI Awards. Parton has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1969, and is a 1999 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Parton was named to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001, is a 2008 Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame inductee, and a 2022 inductee to the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. She received the Library Of Congress Living Legend Award in 2004 and the National Medal of Arts in 2005, the same year the CRB presented her with the Artist Career Achievement Award. Parton was recognized at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2006, and three of her compositions – “I Will Always Love You,” “Jolene” and “Coat Of Many Colors” – were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007, 2014 and 2019, respectively. Read Parton’s complete biography via the Country Music Hall of Fame here. A small, private service is being planned for immediate family. In lieu of flowers the family asks for donations to be made to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.