“I Will Always Love You:” Dolly Parton, an American global country icon, and the voice behind “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You” has tragically passed away Yesterday on the 25th August, 2026.
Dolly Parton, has died at 80 after “a brief battle with cancer”, as her PR team confirms.
This tragic news has gotten public attention after her nephew Bryan Seaver — who was her long time head of security for over 2 decades — posted an emotional video statement directly to Parton’s official social media accounts. He noted that Dolly had specifically asked him years ago to break the news when the time came.
Dolly Parton started writting at the age of 5, and she has written over 3,000+ songs in 50+ years of her career as singer/songwriter.
Dolly, also has had a long career as an actress where she has starred in more than 20 films including TV series.
Her major roles includes 9 to 5 (1980) and Steel Magnolias (1989) and more others she had been in in the peak of her acting career between 1980 and late 90s.
In her philanthropic work, in 1995 she started the Imagination Library. It mails free books to kids from birth to age 5. As of 2025 it has delivered over 250 million books worldwide. In 2020 she donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University for COVID-19 vaccine research.
Dolly was a highly decorated artist with 10 Grammy Awards, 50+ nominations, and is in both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. She’s had 25 #1 country hits and 42 Top 10 country albums, which makes that more than any other female artist in history.
Artists across pop, rock, and country cover her songs. From Beyoncé to Miley Cyrus, her writing crosses genres. She turned personal stories about poverty, love, and small-town life into music the whole world sings.
“It costs a lot of money to look this cheap,” she used to joke. But Dolly Parton gave the world hope, humor, and songs that told the truth. Legends die in making.
Author: Roger Jules Rwema