Dolly Parton, Queen of Country Music and Humanitarian Hero, dead at 80 years by Dan Heching

Dolly Parton, music legend and global philanthropist, is dead at 80. Her team tells ET she died peacefully on Aug. 25 in Nashville. The news comes about a year after the death of her beloved husband, Carl Thomas Dean.

Dolly Parton, who rose from humble beginnings to the greatest heights of American music and became one of the country’s most philanthropic, unifying and beloved stars, died Tuesday at her home in Nashville, according to a family statement. She was 80.

The statement, attributed to her nephew Bryan Seaver, said Parton died “peacefully.” A small, private service will be held for her close family, the statement added.

Parton died “after bravely facing a brief battle with cancer,” her publicist Marcel Pariseau later said.

The star had been open about various health issues in the last two years, and especially after her husband Carl Dean died in March 2025. “Back when my husband Carl was very sick — that was for a long time — and then when he passed, I didn’t take care of myself,” Parton said in a video to fans earlier this year. “So I let a lot of things go that I should have been taking care of.” To read more go to the link below:

link: https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/25/entertainment/dolly-parton-death