What To Know
- Dolly Parton died at the age of 80, her nephew announced on August 25.
- Country music stars and more flooded social media with tributes to the late star.
- Prior to her death, Parton was open about facing health struggles but had released an optimistic update on August 21.
Dolly Parton‘s nephew confirmed her death at the age of 80 on August 25, and tributes from celebrities began pouring in after the news broke. Hollywood and the country music community have been left devastated by the heartbreaking announcement.
Kacey Musgraves was one of the first country stars to weigh in, writing on X, “Dolly. This really hurts. The world feels a lot less sparkly all of a sudden. So glad she’s with her Carl Dean. No one talk to me today.”
A longtime fan of Parton, Khloé Kardashian had a touching tribute to share. “I swear I believed Mrs Dolly was immortal,” she wrote. “Some people are so extraordinary, their existence feels almost impossible. Dolly was one of those people. A once-in-a-lifetime soul. A woman whose light, heart, talent and humanity changed this world forever. To have admired her was a gift. To have met her, spent time in her presence, and somehow been lucky enough that Dolly Parton knew my name… I will never have words big enough for what that means to me.
What an astronomical human being. What a legacy. What a loss. There will never be another Dolly.”
Parton’s 9 to 5 costar Lily Tomlin shared a black and white photo of the pair and simply wrote, “No words….”
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to her own social media to add, “Damn. RIP Dolly. What a singular force she was.” Julianne Hough commented on the Instagram post announcing Parton’s death with, “We will always love you, Dolly.”
Also in the comments section, Lucy Hale wrote, “1 of 1,” and Olivia Holt said, “we will always love you dolly.”
Maren Morris shared a throwback video of herself and Parton singing and captioned it, “there will never be another. @dollyparton was who we could all agree on. she was and is such a light.”
On her Instagram, Reba McEntire posted, “Dolly, thank you for all the wonderful things you did for us here on earth. Your love, your music and you gave so much with your huge huge heart. There will never ever be another you. We will remember and cherish every memory and every note you ever played and sang. Thank you, Lord, for Dolly. She’s gonna have a blast in heaven singing all her favorite songs with all her family and friends who have gone on before her. I’ll never forget the first time I met you and I’ll never forget our last conversation. I hold it with love in my heart.”
Pedro Pascal wrote, “One of one . We must make more. #DollyParton #Love,” and Seth MacFarlane said, “The news of Dolly Parton’s passing is devastating. I had the extraordinary experience of working with her on The Orville, and it was a joy to discover that she really was exactly the person we all hoped she was. Her kindness, generosity, and authenticity were evident from moment one, and the benign yet assured command she maintained over her empire was obvious from the genuine love and trust you could see from everyone who worked for her. The world is a dimmer place today without her.”
Henry Winkler tweeted, “What a sad day for America what a sad day for the world what a sad day for the pardon family. Dolly! We will miss you in more ways than one can say you were a treasure on this earth.” Lance Bass called Parton “the best of the best” and added, “We will always love you Dolly!”
In March 2025, Parton’s husband of 58 years, Carl Dean, died. Afterwards, she was open about the fact that she let her own health issues fall to the wayside as she cared for him in his final months.
Parton gave People a promising update about her health on August 21, just four days before it was confirmed that she had died. “I think because we live in a 24/7 world with social media, everything gets magnified in ways it wasn’t years ago,” she said said. “I used to joke that I was the Queen of the Tabloids, but now I guess I can say I’m the Queen of Social Media AI! Seriously, though, even though I’m still healin’, 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.”
For the most part, though, the specifics about Parton’s health issues were kept private. She and Dean did not have any children during their marriage.