Dolly Parton, country music icon, dies at 80

Dolly Parton, the celebrated American country music singer, songwriter and actress whose career spanned nearly six decades, has died aged 80, her family said on Tuesday.

Parton died peacefully in Nashville, according to her publicist. No cause of death was disclosed.

Known for songs including Jolene, Coat of Many Colors and I Will Always Love You, Parton became one of the world’s best-selling female recording artists, selling more than 100 million records. She won 11 Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Her career extended beyond music. She appeared in films and television programmes and founded Dollywood, a major theme park in Tennessee, her home state.

Parton was also widely recognised for her philanthropy. She donated $1 million to vaccine research at Vanderbilt University in 2020, supporting work that contributed to the development of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.

She founded a literacy programme for young children, which expanded beyond the United States to countries including Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland. She also supported scholarships for students in the Tennessee county where she was born.

Born Dolly Rebecca Parton on January 19, 1946, in Pittman Center, Tennessee, she grew up in a poor family as one of 12 children. Her early experiences later became a recurring source of inspiration for her songwriting.

She began performing publicly as a child and appeared at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry at 13. After leaving high school, she moved to Nashville and established a successful partnership with country singer Porter Wagoner.

Parton wrote I Will Always Love You when she decided to end her professional partnership with Wagoner and pursue a solo career. The song later became an international hit through Whitney Houston’s recording.

Her songwriting remained central to her career. Parton wrote an estimated 3,000 songs, although she recorded only a fraction of them. Her compositions were also recorded by artists across country and popular music, including Beyoncé and The White Stripes.

Parton entered the film industry with the 1980 hit 9 to 5, alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. The title song earned her an Academy Award nomination for songwriting. She received another Oscar nomination in 2006 for Travelin’ Thru, written for Transamerica.

She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and received its Johnny Mercer Award in 2007. In 2022, she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Despite her extraordinary success, Parton often described songwriting as the centre of her artistic legacy.

“I feel like I’m closest to God when I write,” she said in her book Dolly Parton, Songteller.

“At the end of the day, I hope that I will be remembered as a good songwriter. The songs are my legacy.”

©Reuters