Dolly Parton obituary — Dolly Rebecca Parton, the singer and songwriter who rose from a one-room cabin in the Tennessee mountains to become one of the most recognisable figures in American music, died on 25 August 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee. She was 80.
Compiled from published reports. Last updated 2 September 2026.
Her family confirmed the cause as cancer. According to a statement issued on behalf of the Parton and Owens families, she died at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center after what the statement described as a brief illness, surrounded by loved ones. She had not disclosed the diagnosis publicly.
On this page
- Quick answers: date, age, cause of death, burial
- Early life in Sevier County
- The Porter Wagoner years
- Jolene, I Will Always Love You, and 9 to 5
- Hollywood
- Dollywood and the Imagination Library
- Carl Dean
- Funeral arrangements and burial
- Honours
- Sources
Quick answers
When did Dolly Parton die?
Dolly Parton died on 25 August 2026, in Nashville, Tennessee.
How old was Dolly Parton when she died?
She was 80. She was born on 19 January 1946 in Pittman Center, Sevier County, Tennessee.
What was Dolly Parton’s cause of death?
Cancer. A statement issued on behalf of the Parton and Owens families said she died at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center after a brief illness, surrounded by loved ones. She had not disclosed the diagnosis publicly before her death, and her sister Stella referred to the illness in a tribute published on 27 August.
Where is Dolly Parton buried?
At Woodlawn Memorial Park in Nashville, beside her husband Carl Dean, whom she married in 1966 and who died in 2025.
When is the Dolly Parton funeral?
Her representatives said a private service for immediate family was her own instruction. No public funeral or memorial has been announced. Details below are as reported by the entertainment press rather than confirmed by a family statement.
Early life in Sevier County
She was born on 19 January 1946 in Pittman Center, Sevier County, Tennessee, in a one-room cabin on the banks of the Little Pigeon River — the fourth of twelve children born to Robert Lee Parton and Avie Lee Caroline Owens.
She was performing publicly before she was ten, on East Tennessee radio and television, and appeared on The Cas Walker Show as a child. At thirteen she recorded “Puppy Love” for Goldband Records and appeared at the Grand Ole Opry, where Johnny Cash encouraged her to keep going.
The poverty of that childhood was never something she hid. She wrote about it directly, most famously in “Coat of Many Colors,” and a replica of the family’s Locust Ridge cabin later stood at Dollywood.
The Porter Wagoner years
In 1967 Porter Wagoner invited her to join his syndicated television programme and road show. Their duet “The Last Thing on My Mind” reached the country top ten in early 1968, and the Country Music Association named them Vocal Group of the Year that year.
The partnership made her nationally known and, eventually, constrained her. They gave their final duet concert in April 1974. The song she wrote about leaving became the most valuable of her career.
Jolene, I Will Always Love You, and 9 to 5
- “Coat of Many Colors” (1971) — reached number four on the country chart. She often named it her favourite of her own songs.
- “Jolene” (released late 1973) — topped the country chart in February 1974 and has been recorded by artists across nearly every genre since.
- “I Will Always Love You” (1974) — a number one country single, written as a farewell to Wagoner.
- “9 to 5” (early 1981) — a triple number one, topping the country, pop and adult contemporary charts.
She wrote “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You” in the same period. It is an unusual fact about an unusual career.
Hollywood
Her screen work began with 9 to 5 (1980) and continued through The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), Rhinestone (1984), Steel Magnolias (1989), Straight Talk (1992) and Joyful Noise (2012). She won a Primetime Emmy for the Netflix film Christmas on the Square in 2021.
Dollywood and the Imagination Library
She built a theme park in the county she came from, and made it one of the largest employers in the area. Through the Dollywood Foundation she also founded the Imagination Library, which mails books to young children.
She was, by most accounts, a considerably shrewder businessperson than the public persona suggested — something she acknowledged herself, more than once, with the line about how much it costs to look that cheap.
Carl Dean
She married Carl Dean in 1966. He avoided publicity almost entirely across the six decades that followed, and she protected that. He died in 2025.
She will be buried beside him.
Dolly Parton funeral arrangements and where she is buried
Her representatives said that a private service, for immediate family, was her own instruction. She is to be laid to rest at Woodlawn Memorial Park in Nashville, beside her husband.
Her nephew Bryan Seaver described what she had asked for:
She wants to rest in a beautiful bed of plush cotton because, after a life wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and have some rest.
Bryan Seaver, as reported in the entertainment press
She is reported to have chosen a cotton dress, and the heels.
Details of the arrangements come from entertainment press reporting rather than a family statement, and are attributed here rather than presented as confirmed fact.
Honours
- Eleven Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2011)
- Three Emmy Awards
- Two Academy Award nominations and six Golden Globe nominations
- A Tony Award nomination
- A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (1984)
- The National Medal of Arts (2004)
- A Kennedy Center Honor (2006)
A note from Memories Mortuary
Memories Mortuary had no involvement in Ms Parton’s funeral arrangements. This Dolly Parton obituary is published as a tribute, published because her death was widely felt — including by many families here in Winston-Salem. If you are looking for obituaries for our own families, they are published on our obituaries page.
One detail is worth drawing out, because it is the part of this story that touches what we do. Almost everything about her funeral — the private service, the resting place, the dress — had been decided by her, in advance, and communicated to someone who could carry it out. Her family were not guessing in the worst week of their lives.
That is available to anyone, and it costs nothing.
Sources for this Dolly Parton obituary
- Death, date, place, age and cause — NPR: npr.org; TODAY: today.com; Deadline: deadline.com
- Biography, discography, filmography and honours — Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly_Parton
- Funeral arrangements and resting place — Katie Couric Media: katiecouric.com, reporting statements made to Page Six
A note on one discrepancy: sources describing the marriage give both 58 and 59 years. She and Carl Dean married in 1966 and he died in 2025; this page gives the years rather than a total. Sources also spell her nephew’s name both “Bryan” and “Brian.” Verified 2 September 2026.
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