Famed country singer and actress Dolly Parton has passed away.

She was born January 19th, 1946 in Pittman Center, Tennessee, the fourth of 12 children born to Robert Lee and Avie Lee Caroline Parton.

Over her career, she composed over 3,000 songs and was well known for singing a cross genre of tunes from Country to Bluegrass to Gospel to Rock.

Despite a rocky start on his show, her first success came when she was invited by Porter Wagoner to be a regular on his show starting in 1967. Her early success came singing country music.

As time went along, she became more interested in advocacy and philanthropy and advocacy. In 1988, she started the Dollywood Foundation to help improve education and graduation rates in Tennessee. Through the Dollywood Foundation, she also created the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library which sends out books to children to help them learn to read.

She was also a supporter of the American Red Cross, AIDS charities, and LGBTQ+ rights, plus animal rights.

Ms. Parton also received many awards throughout her career, including:

• honorary Kentucky Colonel.
• American Library Association Honorary Membership.
• 11 Grammy Awards.
• Four Emmy Awards nominations (one time winner.)
• Two Midsouth Emmy Awards.
• Six Golden Globe Awards nominations.
• One Tony Awards nomination.

Ms. Parton married Carl Thomas Dean in 1966, remaining married until his death in 2025.

Ms. Parton passed away on August 25th, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee after a brief battle with cancer.