Dolly Parton, Country Music Legend and Movie Star, Dies at 80

This one hurts. Dolly Parton, beloved country music legend and movie star, an entertainer who crossed genres and generations, died in Nashville on Tuesday. She was 80 years old.

Her passing was announced by her family, in a message posted to her official social media accounts. Parton’s nephew, Bryan Seaver, appears in it, representing her family, saying that Parton herself asked her to make it “years ago.”

“As her head of security for more than two decades, a role my father Larry held before me, I have imagined the heaviness of this moment, but haven’t truly felt it until now,” Seaver said. The video does not include a cause of death.

Parton was scheduled to begin a residency in Las Vegas last year, but her appearances were later postponed and ultimately canceled. Following widespread speculation about her health, she posted a video to social media on October 8 assuring her fans she was okay, along with the caption “I ain’t dead yet!”

In May, Parton posted a video with “good news” and “bad news” regarding her health, saying she was respondng well to treatment and “improving every day” but also admitting it would take “a little while” before she could return to the stage.

Born in 1946, Parton reigned for decades as one of the biggest names in country music. She sold more than 100 million albums worldwide and racked up 25 top-selling country singles. Some of her biggest songs include “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors,” and “I Will Always Love You.”

While her main legacy will be her amazing musical career, Parton was also a movie star, appearing in hits like 9 to 5, where she played opposite fellow legends Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. She also wrote and recorded the movie’s theme song, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and remains a workplace anthem.

9 to 5, released in 1980, was probably the highlight of Parton’s Hollywood career, but she also appeared in films like The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Straight Talk, and Steel Magnolias. Only a star with the grace and charm of Dolly Parton could appear in one of the 1980s absolute worst movies, the brutal country music comedy Rhinestone starring Sylvester Stallone, and escape with her dignity entact.

Of course, Parton’s biggest contribution to movies might be her songs, which have appeared countless times onscreen through the years. The most famous example is probably 1992’s The Bodyguard, which featured Whitney Houston’s cover of Dolly’s classic song “I Will Always Love You.”

Parton’s life and impact go far beyond her songs or her movies, though. She was also an entrepneur, founding her own Tennessee theme park, Dollywood. She recently launched a hotel and museum in Nashville, and for decades she has donated to a variety of charitable causes through her Dollywood Foundation.

Her death is a huge loss; for country music fans, for movie lovers, and for pretty much the entire planet. Who doesn’t love Dolly Parton?