Dolly Parton died today, August 25, 2026, at 80 years old.
The confirmation came from her nephew Bryan Seaver in a video posted to the artist’s official Instagram account. Days earlier, in an interview with People magazine, she herself had acknowledged that she was going through “a difficult period” with her health, something she attributed to having neglected her own well-being while caring for her husband Carl Dean, who died in March 2025. She had also canceled a show in Las Vegas due to years of treatment for kidney stones.
Today, she is remembered as the queen of country music who sold more than 160 million albums, wrote “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You”, and built her own theme park, Dollywood. But also for moments like that time when, in response to rumors about her relationship with her best friend Judy Ogle, she answered bluntly: “I’m not gay, but I have many gay friends and I accept everyone who is”. That frankness, both in love and in pain, was part of what made her a beloved legend around the world.