Country music icon Dolly Parton has died aged 80, with US President Donald Trump ordering American flags across the country to be lowered for one week in her honour.
According to reports cited by PUNCH, Parton’s death was announced on Tuesday by her nephew, Bryan Seaver, who described the moment as one of “absolute pride and great sadness”.
Trump said Parton’s death was a “true loss for millions of people” and ordered the flags to be lowered from 6pm on Tuesday.
Parton, who rose from humble beginnings in Tennessee, became one of the most successful singer-songwriters in country music, with a career spanning more than six decades.
She sold more than 100 million records worldwide and became known as the “Queen of Country”, with major hits including Jolene, 9 to 5 and I Will Always Love You.
The singer wrote more than 3,000 songs and won 11 Grammy Awards. She also enjoyed a successful acting career, starring in films including 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Joyful Noise.
Born on January 19, 1946, in a two-room log cabin in Tennessee, Parton was the fourth of 12 children. Her father was a sharecropper who later became a tobacco farmer.
She began performing as a child and, by 13, had appeared on local radio and television, performed at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and recorded her first single, Puppy Love.
After graduating from high school in 1964, Parton moved to Nashville the following day to pursue her music career.
She released her debut album, Hello, I’m Dolly, in 1967 and joined The Porter Wagoner Show, where established country star Porter Wagoner became her mentor. The pair later released several successful albums together.
Parton turned her attention to a solo career in the early 1970s and wrote I Will Always Love You about her professional separation from Wagoner. Whitney Houston later recorded a hugely successful version of the song for the 1992 film The Bodyguard.
Parton also wrote Jolene, another of her best-known songs, around the same period. Both songs appeared on her 1974 album Jolene.
Her 1977 album Here You Come Again became her first million-selling album and earned her first Grammy Award.
Parton expanded into acting in 1980, starring alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in 9 to 5. She also wrote and performed the film’s title song, which became a number-one hit and received an Oscar nomination.
Her other notable film roles included The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Joyful Noise.
Beyond entertainment, Parton built a business empire that included television specials, food products and Dollywood, the Tennessee theme park she acquired an interest in and renamed in 1986.
She was also widely recognised for her philanthropy. Through the Dollywood Foundation’s Imagination Library, she supported childhood literacy and also contributed to medical research, disaster relief and other charitable causes.
In 2020, Parton donated $1 million towards COVID-19 vaccine research. She received the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in 2022.
Parton’s health concerns became public in September 2025 when she postponed her Las Vegas residency. She had also withdrawn from public appearances in recent weeks amid ongoing health issues.
Her death comes about 17 months after that of her husband, Carl Dean, who died in March 2025 aged 82. The couple had been married since 1966.
In a statement shared on Truth Social and by the White House on X, Trump said there had “never been anyone like her” and declared that “the World loves you”.
