US country music legend Dolly Parton dies at 80
Dolly Parton died after "a brief battle with cancer," her publicist said.
American country music star Dolly Parton performs on the Pyramid Stage at Worthy Farm in Somerset, during the Glastonbury Festival, on Jun 29, 2014. (File photo: Reuters/Cathal McNaughton)
WASHINGTON: Country music legend Dolly Parton, known for hits like "Jolene" and "9 to 5", has died at 80, her family announced on Tuesday (Aug 25).
“After bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her Earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones,” her publicist, Marcel Pariseau, said.
Parton was more than a singer - she wrote 3,000 songs, acted in major Hollywood films and donated millions of dollars to charities in her home state and beyond.
She was also an accomplished businesswoman, with her interests spanning from her popular Dollywood theme park to cosmetics, pet apparel, baking mixes and even a truck stop.
"Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus," her nephew Bryan Seaver said in a video announcing her death on social media.
He said the multiple award-winning artist - known for her glittering style, curvy figure and larger-than-life blonde wigs - had "opened doors for generations of singers, songwriters, musicians, and dreamers from every walk of life".
People magazine reported Parton was admitted to a cancer treatment facility Friday, and had acknowledged in a recent interview with the magazine that she was "dealing with some health issues". Her husband Carl Dean died last year.
A small private funeral service will be held, her representative told People magazine, encouraging fans to leave messages on her website.
Tributes quickly poured in for Parton, who won 10 Grammys and 13 Academy of Country Music (ACM) awards during her long career.
"May her legacy live on through her songs, the lives she touched, and the countless artists she inspired. There will never, ever be another one like her," the Grand Ole Opry, America's temple of country music, said on social media.
Her co-stars from the hit 1980 movie "9 to 5", which sparked her soundtrack smash, expressed their shock.
Oscar winner Jane Fonda said she was "devastated" while Lily Tomlin said only: "No words."
The news even sparked a rare moment of unity in a country often bitterly at odds over Donald Trump's presidency, the war against Iran and cultural issues.
Trump ordered the lowering of American flags to half-staff across the United States for a week, calling Parton's passing a "true loss for millions of people."
"There has never been anyone like her, and never will," Trump posted on his Truth Social network.
Democratic former president Bill Clinton called her "one of a kind".
New York's Empire State Building was to be lit later Tuesday in pink in the singer's honour.
A WORLD "LESS SPARKLY"
Born in 1946, Parton's career was influenced by her upbringing as one of 12 children born into what she called a “dirt poor” Tennessee family. She started her education nonprofit, Imagination Library, to send free books to children in Tennessee because her father, who quit school to work on the farm, struggled to learn to read.
Parton's first musical performances were in church, where her grandfather was a preacher. By age 10, she was learning guitar and singing on local television shows. At 13, she appeared on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, where Johnny Cash introduced her as "a little girl here from up in East Tennessee".
With a suitcase of songs, she followed her uncle, Bill Owens, also a songwriter, to Nashville after graduating high school in 1964. Fred Foster, who produced Roy Orbison, Willie Nelson and more, saw her potential and got her songs cut by other artists, as well as recording and releasing Parton singing her own material.
By 1967, at age 21, she was among the most recognised figures in American music, having joined Porter Wagoner's syndicated country music television show that broadcast her voice and face into millions of US homes.
During a prolific career that spanned six decades, Parton penned some 3,000 tunes.
They included "Jolene", "Coat of Many Colors" and the iconic ballad "I Will Always Love You," which became an international success for Whitney Houston.
Releasing 49 studio albums and more than 100 compilation and collaboration albums, she earned the title of "queen of country music".
Never one to downplay her striking looks, Parton essentially wrote the book on how a woman can rule the airwaves in a male-dominated industry, ultimately becoming an American treasure with songs covered by everyone from Shania Twain to Sinead O'Connor.
"Instant Sainthood," Jack White, who covered "Jolene" with the White Stripes, wrote on Instagram.
Last year, Parton postponed a series of Las Vegas concerts, citing ongoing health concerns. In May, she cancelled them altogether, sparking new fears.
In videos posted to her social media accounts, she said that while treatment for an unspecified illness was going well, she was not ready to perform.
Just last week, she said in a statement to People magazine: "I still have so many things I want to achieve, so I'm gonna keep on working as long as I can to see everything come to life."
"She brought so many people together, we will all miss her so much," said Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger.
