Remembering Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton was a country music icon, songwriter, and screen star. But that is just one side of her. She was a humanitarian and philanthropist who launched her Dollywood Foundation to provide poverty relief and fund education in her native East Tennessee.
Before she became a superstar, Parton had to overcome great poverty, reported NBC News. Born in 1946 in a one-room cabin near Sevierville, Parton was the fourth of 12 children. Her father was illiterate, but it was a home filled with music and love. Parton passed away on August 25, 2026, surrounded by her family. She was 80. Her death was announced by her nephew Brian Sever.
A statement from her family that honored her legacy said: “She spent her life and career bringing joy, laughter, hope and integrity into everything she touched.” She was preceded in death by her husband Carl Dean who passed in 2025.
Her Rise to Stardom
Parton was known for her massive blonde wigs and bejeweled outfits, reported AP News. She wrote hundreds of songs including her classics like “Jolene,” and “I will Always Love You.” But her beginnings are humbler. She began by singing in church where her grandfather was the preacher. She learned how to play the guitar and was singing on local television at age 10. And she first appeared on the Frans Old Opry. By the mid-1970s she was already the Queen of Nashville.
Her fans spanned social and political divides and came from both rural and urban areas as well as from countries across the globe. “I don’t do politics,” Parton told host Jad Abumrad on his podcast Dolly Parton’s America. “I have too many fans on both sides of the fence. Of course, I have my opinion about everything, but I learned years ago to keep your mouth shut about things.”
For millions of her fans, she was just Dolly, a mixture of Southern charm, humor, and talent, according to AP. But she was also a feminist role model for controlling her own career in a field that was dominated by men.
She wrote books, memoirs, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Parton was also given a lifetime achievement award by the Recording Academy.
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Parton’s Lasting Legacy
But she was much more than that. Her lasting legacy will be her kindness and her generosity. When a wildfire swept through her beloved Smokey Mountains, she held a star-filled telethon and set up a foundation to send money to residents whose houses were damaged or destroyed. The foundation continues to do good.
Parton opened her Dollywood theme park to support the economy of East Tennessee by bringing tourists to the area and providing jobs.
She tweeted in April 2020, “My longtime friend Dr. Naji Abumrad, who’s been involved in research at Vanderbilt for many years, informed me that they were making some exciting advancements towards research of the coronavirus for a cure,” when much of the country was in lockdown. She donated $1 million towards the research.
Imagination Library
Partons greatest gift was the creation of Imagination Library which mails free books to children from birth to age five. across the US, Canada the UK, Australia and Ireland, according to NBC News. It began in 1995, and served children in Sevier County, Tennessee and grew from there. The program went national five years later.
The initiative was inspired by Parton’s father who was illiterate. She believed that his inability to read held him back.
“When I got this idea to do the Imagination Library, I wanted to get Daddy involved in it. I wanted him to help me with that so he could take the pride in that and so he did,” she wrote on her website in 2020. “He got to live long enough to hear the kids call me the Book Lady.”
Parton will be remembered by the millions of people she touched and helped throughout her life. You can write your own tribute on her website.
