Dolly Parton’s estate announced Tuesday that the singer, songwriter, actress and businesswoman had died at the age of 80. The news was shared in a video posted by her nephew, Bryan Seaver, who served as her head of security, according to the statement from her estate.
Parton enjoyed a career spanning more than six decades after stepping onto the music scene in 1959 at age 13 with her first single, “Puppy Love.” Her recording résumé included 49 studio albums and 25 No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart. She rose to new prominence in 1973 with the releases of “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You,” the latter of which later became a global hit for Whitney Houston in 1992.
A noted philanthropist, Parton donated millions toward college scholarships through the Dollywood Foundation and created the Imagination Library, which provides free books to children. She also invested the royalties from “I Will Always Love You” into an office complex in Nashville. Reflecting on that decision in 2021, Parton said she saw the development as being among the people she wanted to support and called it “the house that Whitney built.”
Parton’s presence was widely felt in sports. Born in Tennessee, she was a die-hard fan of teams from her home state and regularly celebrated Tennessee Volunteers victories on social media. In 2020 she was named Tennessean of the Year by the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. In 2023 she appeared at Neyland Stadium and was escorted by Peyton Manning to perform a rendition of “Rocky Top.”
Her most recent high-profile sports appearance came during the 2023 Thanksgiving halftime show at the game between the Washington Commanders and the Dallas Cowboys, where she wore a Cowboys cheerleader uniform and performed “Jolene” and “9 to 5,” closing with a mashup of “We Are the Champions” and “We Will Rock You.” Teams and figures across sports, including those connected to Tennessee, Manning and the Cowboys, paid tribute after her death.
