Tributes pour in after country music legend Dolly Parton, 80, dies following ‘brief battle with cancer’ – latest updates

Dolly has been remembered for many things, including her part in helping to fund the Moderna vaccine, which helped end the Covid pandemic.

The country music icon donated $1m dollars (£733,000) in 2020 to coronavirus research at the city’s Vanderbilt University, which helped fund Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine.

In August 2021, she told Absolute Radio Country:

When the pandemic came out, I just felt led to do something because I knew something bad was on the rise and I just kind of wanted to help with that, so I donated to help with that. So, mine was a small part, of course, but I probably get a lot more credit than I deserve, but I was happy to be part of that, and to be able to try to stop something in its tracks that’s really just become such a monster for all of us.”

US senator for Nevada Jacky Rosen paid tribute to Parton’s role in “helping end” the pandemic through her donation.

Writing on X, she said:

I join every American in mourning the incredibly sad news that Dolly Parton has passed away. Dolly was a music icon who inspired so many people and always gave back to her community, from supporting children’s literacy through her Imagination Library to helping end the Covid pandemic through her donation for vaccine research.”

• Country music icon and celebrated philanthropist Dolly Parton has died in Nashville at the age of 80, her family announced. “She never saw a door she couldn’t open, and the doors she opened made and changed history,” her nephew Bryan Seaver said in a video statement, adding: “Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus.” Her funeral will be small and private, per her wishes, her family said.

• In an interview last week, Parton had shared that she had been “dealing with some health issues” that had gone unaddressed while she cared for her husband of almost 60 years, Carl Dean, who died in March last year. “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,” she told People on Friday.

• Parton rose from grinding poverty in Tennessee to become a rhinestone-studded cultural icon, writing 3,000 songs including hits like Jolene and 9 to 5, acting in major Hollywood films and donating millions of dollars to charities in her home state and beyond. She was an accomplished businesswoman, with interests spanning from her Dollywood theme park to cosmetics, pet apparel, baking mixes and even a truck stop. Among her celebrated philanthropic work, the Dollywood Foundation distributes about 25m books each year across the US, Canada, Australia, the UK and Ireland, while her $1m donated for research into Covid-19 formed the basis for the eventual Moderna vaccine.

• One of the country’s most unifying personalities, Parton was paid tributes from figures across music, film, politics and beyond. In a lengthy and emotional Instagram post, her 9 to 5 co-star Jane Fonda wrote: “I know that millions are mourning and I want to say this – more than anyone I have ever known, Dolly will always be with us because she was so present, so powerful, so generous and playful that she is woven into all our lives and hearts forever.” She was “the voluptuous embodiment of empathy”, she added. Fellow country star Reba McEntire shared a picture of her and Parton on Instagram, adding: “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.”

Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber said: “Farewell dear Dolly.

“I’ll never forget the incredibly special time we spent in your trailer talking about songwriting. You were one of the greatest talents I’ve had the privilege of meeting.

“A great melodist and undisputed queen of storytelling songs.”

Donny Osmond shared this tribute along with a clip of Dolly Parton’s appearance on the Donny & Marie talkshow on 2 March 1999.

I’m deeply saddened by the passing of Dolly Parton. She has a heart of gold and a spirit that touched so many lives. She was a true woman of God, an incredible entertainer, and of course, one of the pillars of country music. Marie and I had the pleasure of having Dolly on our show, and what a pleasure it was. She had the most amazing way of making everyone in that studio feel like they were her best friend. I think it was that sweet Southern hospitality in her. Rest in peace, Dolly. What a beautiful life you lived, and what a gift you were to the world. Your name will be forever remembered by all. ‘We will always love you!’

Actor Russell Crowe said: “There’s only ever going to be one Dolly Parton. What a soul she carried.”

The Library of Congress shared on X:

The Library is devastated to learn of the passing of @DollyParton, a music legend and titan of children’s literacy. Her Imagination Library program has earned multiple Library Literacy Awards and, in 2018, she visited us to donate its 100 millionth book to our collection and host a story time.

Jane Fonda, who starred with Parton in 9 to 5, shared this tribute on Instagram:

I am devastated. I just learned that Dolly has moved on. I know that millions are mourning and I want to say this – more than anyone I have ever known, Dolly will always be with us because she was so present, so powerful, so generous and playful that she is woven into all our lives and hearts forever. We have our memories of her, her songs, Dollywood, ‘9to5’, the millions of books she got into the hands of children, all the iconic images that bring her to us.

And they are all blessings. Let’s be grateful for all that she has left us to ease our sadness now. I never knew anyone like her. She was simultaneously a naughty, playful southern gal from the hollows of
Tennessee and a deep, soulful thinker who could see through people right down to their true selves. She was many things … lyricist, songstress, player of many instruments, writer, prankster, visionary, loyal friend, who’d never go to bed before she and her friends had laughed so hard they’d have to cross their legs.

She had a survivor’s instinct and seemed to always know just what to do, just what to say, to make things right … and then she’d stick her butt out the car window and moon Kenny Roger’s home. She was the voluptuous embodiment of empathy. That’s something of hers she’d want us all to take with us.

To her gay and trans fans, I want you to know that she loved you. You know that without me telling you. She loved all her fans and they are legion. And you know she doesn’t want y’all to mourn now. Dress up and celebrate her spirit. But first, watch the final episode of Grace and Frankie where she’s an Angel, the head honcho working class angel in Heaven.

RIP, beautiful woman. We love you.

Flowers have been laid on Dolly Parton’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, California.

For the US public, the feeling that Dolly Parton expressed in her country music chart-topping 1974 classic I Will Always Love You is clearly mutual.

In April, my colleague Ramon Antonio Vargas reported on a poll of Americans’ opinions about more than 20 international luminaries that established as much, with the 11-time Grammy winner and philanthropist leaving her two closest competitors – Barack Obama and Volodymyr Zelenskyy – in the dust by more than 50 percentage points.

Of 1,000 people surveyed by the University of Massachusetts and the market research firm YouGov heading into April, 70% of them had a favorable impression of Parton, an 11-time Grammy winner. Only 5% had an unfavorable impression of her, giving her a net favorability of 65%.

Obama, the US president from 2009 to 2017, had the poll’s next highest net favorability at 14%. He scored 50% favorability and 36% unfavorability among those surveyed.

And rounding out the poll’s metaphorical podium with a 12% net favorability was Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, which has been defending itself from invading Russian forces since February 2022. He arrived at that number after 35% of those surveyed reported having a favorable opinion of him and 22% indicated an unfavorable view of him.

Parton and Obama were the only public figures in the poll about whom at least half of the survey’s respondents had a favorable opinion.

Beside Parton’s nearly seven-decade musical career and her acting on films such as the critically acclaimed 9 to 5, a factor in her over-performance on the UMass/YouGov poll is almost certainly her mostly apolitical public relations strategy.

“Everybody knows I don’t do politics,” she said in a 2017 interview cited by the political news outlet the Hill. “I’ve got as many Republican fans as Democrats, and I don’t want to make any of them mad at me, so I don’t play politics.”

Parton’s prolific philanthropic work, meanwhile, has surely won her many admirers.

She received the prestigious Carnegie medal of philanthropy in 2022, as Time noted in recognizing her as one of its most influential philanthropists in 2025.

“I just give from my heart,” Parton said as she accepted the Carnegie medal. “I just see a need, and if I can fill it, then I will.”

Mick Jagger wrote on X: “What a wonderful songwriter and singer Dolly was. She brought so many people together, we will all miss her so much.”

And second lady Usha Vance said: “As four-time subscribers to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and lifelong fans of her music, our family knows that Dolly Parton loved a good story. I hope that you’ll pick up a book and celebrate the magic of storytelling in her honor today.”

Former vice-president Kamala Harris said on X:

Dolly Parton was a true American icon. First introduced to the world as a ‘little girl from up in East Tennessee,’ she became a global superstar. Her career accolades included 11 Grammy awards, an Emmy, an honorary Oscar, and – my favorite – more than 300 million books sent to millions of children around the world through her Imagination Library. All at once she was kind, modest, and funny. With her music, her philanthropy, and her style, Dolly was one of one. Doug and I send our prayers to her family, friends, and all those who have been touched by her magic. We will always love you, Dolly.

Former president Bill Clinton shared this tribute:

Dolly Parton was one of a kind – a great songwriter and performer who told the stories of everyday Americans with honesty, humility, and heart. She rose high from her East Tennessee roots and never forgot where she came from. And she always believed in giving back, especially in her efforts to promote literacy. Hillary and I were big fans and first saw her in 1974, and will always be grateful for the music and the memories. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, her legion of fans, and everyone who loved her.