"Country music legend" Dolly Parton has died. She was 80.
On the 25th (local time), according to U.S. entertainment outlet Page Six, Brian Siver, Parton's nephew and her head of security for more than 20 years, announced her death in an SNS video that day.
Brian Siver said, "Today, on behalf of the Parton and Owens families, I announce the passing of my aunt Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean," and "to one generation she was a sister and an aunt, to the next generation she was like a grandmother."
He added, "I served as my aunt's head of security for more than 20 years, and that role was previously held by my father Larry," and mourned, "I imagined how heavy this moment would be, but this is the first time I actually feel it." He added, "The sorrow is ours; it is not something that belongs to Dolly."
Brian Siver remembered Parton as "someone who opened doors for singers, songwriters, musicians and dreamers of every class and every continent," and said, "Seeing her made people believe anything was possible."
He also said that during her life she once told him she wanted, in keeping with having worn glamorous rhinestones, to "now rest comfortably in a beautiful bed made of soft fabric," and at the end of the video a black-and-white photo of Dolly Parton appeared with the phrase "I will always love you" and her handwritten signature.
Parton had experienced health problems after her husband Carl Thomas Dean died last March at the age of 82. At the time she said, "Carl and I spent more than 60 years together and had many beautiful years," and added, "The love we shared cannot be expressed in words."
Afterwards, Parton said she would step back from musical activities for a while, and in September of the same year she canceled a visit to Dollywood in Tennessee because of health issues. She explained at the time that an infection had occurred and on a doctor's recommendation she rested for several days. She later postponed a Las Vegas residency and underwent several procedures.
In January she skipped a Grand Ole Opry event celebrating her 80th birthday for health reasons. In May she canceled her Las Vegas residency, reassuring fans that "I am responding well to medication and treatment and I am getting better every day," but she ultimately died, adding to the sorrow.
Actress Julia Roberts, who worked with Dolly Parton in the film Steel Magnolias, said, "Dolly was magical and delightful. Knowing her is a precious treasure of my life. Today her sun has set."
Born Jan. 19, 1946, in Tennessee, Dolly Parton was one of 11 children and grew up in poverty without even basic plumbing. She showed musical talent early, composing her first song "Little Tiny Tassel Top" at age 5, appeared on local radio programs around age 10, and made her first Grand Ole Opry appearance at 13.
She won 11 Grammy Awards and received a primetime Emmy, the National Medal of Arts and the Kennedy Center Honors, and she received an honorary Academy Award in 2025. In 1984 she was inducted on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and in 1986 she was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Parton married Carl Dean in 1966, and the couple had no children. Survivors include six of her 11 siblings: Willardine, Robert Lee, Stella, Kathy, Freida and Rachel.
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