Country music legend Dolly Parton has died at the age of 80 at a hospital in Nashville following a brief battle with cancer.
Her death was first confirmed on Tuesday in an Instagram video posted by her nephew Brian Seaver, who also worked as her head of security.
Representatives for Parton later confirmed in a statement to People that the singer passed away Tuesday morning at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones. TMZ reported that Parton had been hospitalised on Friday at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville with autoimmune and kidney problems before her private cancer battle was revealed.
The news of her death comes after months of health struggles that forced Parton to cancel a series of public appearances, sparking concerns among fans. Friends and close associates noted that she had become increasingly reclusive and secretive regarding her declining health in recent months.
In their statement, Parton's representatives praised her unmatched generosity and unconditional love for people across the globe. They highlighted her philanthropic legacy, including donating hundreds of millions of books through her Imagination Library program and funding medical research that contributed to a lifesaving vaccine used worldwide.
Tributes to a country music legend
Parton enjoyed a career spanning nearly 60 years, establishing herself as an extraordinary recording artist, songwriter, philanthropist, raconteur and fashion icon. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where she was treated, is one of Tennessee's premier medical facilities located in Nashville.
She earned a Grammy Award for her single Here You Come Again and starred in a series of popular films. Her Hollywood success led to a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1984, alongside leading roles in movies such as the 1982 hit The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
Flamboyant Western style and signature look
Throughout her career, Parton was defined by her glamorous country girl style featuring rhinestones, fringe, sky-high blonde wigs, skin-tight sequined stage outfits, electric colours, cleavage-baring ensembles, long acrylic nails and a full face of makeup. Defending her flamboyant appearance, she once said: "It's certainly a choice; I don't like to be like everybody else. I would never stoop so low to be fashionable, that's the easiest thing in the world to do."
She also shared her fashion philosophy in a conversation with Andy Warhol for Interview magazine, which was republished in 2014, telling him: "Never leave a rhinestone unturned."
Parton accumulated an extraordinary collection of garments, including more than 350 wigs, over 2,000 pairs of shoes and a 50,000-square-foot archive warehouse filled with bedazzled stage costumes. She chronicled her wardrobe history in her 2023 book, Behind The Seams: My Life In Rhinestones.
Her look also inspired her music, from her 1967 hit Dumb Blonde to her 2008 track Backwoods Barbie. On her debut album, she declared in song: "This dumb blonde ain't nobody's fool."
Her signature style left a lasting impact on younger country artists such as Miley Cyrus, Kacey Musgraves and Carrie Underwood, who all went through their own rhinestone cowgirl phases. Parton also partnered with Emma Grede and Khloé Kardashian's brand Good American to launch a Joleans denim and apparel collection.
Early career battles over her image
Parton began building her signature Western aesthetic after moving to Nashville in 1964 at the age of 18 to launch her music career. However, her father and grandfather disapproved of her flamboyant look, and she was punished for it during her youth.
When she signed her first record deal with Monument Records, label boss Fred Foster tried to transform her image into a 1960s pop look. He wanted to flatten her hair, streamline her clothes and make her appear more chic, but Parton resisted.
Reflecting on the experience, she wrote in her 2023 book: "They wanted to flatten my hair. They wanted me to look more chic and wear more streamlined clothes. I hated everything about it, I felt naked. I kept saying, 'I can't do what I'm supposed to do as a performer if I don't feel comfortable within my own skin.'"
Parton recalled that critics and industry executives told her at the time: "you look more like a hooker than you do a singer." She snapped back: "I've got great ideas and I'm a creative person. I think I've got something more to sell than just the way I look."
By 1974, Parton was performing independently, and her iconic image of blonde wigs and bold outfits was firmly established.
Inspiration from her hometown
Parton's unique sense of style was rooted in her childhood in Locust Ridge, located in rural Sevier County, Tennessee. In a 2006 interview, she described her aesthetic as a "country girl's idea of glamour."
Appearing on CBS, Parton explained how she modeled her appearance after a local woman known as the town tramp. She recalled: "There was this woman that was very much a loose woman, but I didn't know what that meant and I just told her how beautiful she was, 'cause she had this beautiful yellow hair. She left a big impression on me, and I would talk about how beautiful she was and different ones would say, 'Oh, she's just trash.' And I thought, 'That's what I want to be when I grow up. I'm gonna be trash!' And that is how I look."
She mastered self-deprecating humour to control her public narrative and respond to critics. While starring in the 1982 film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, she famously remarked: "It costs a lot of money to look this cheap." She later told Vanity Fair in 2008 that the phrase would likely serve as her epitaph.
Custom wardrobe and design collaboration
To maintain her image, Parton worked closely with costume designer Steve Summers for more than 30 years. Summers said of their partnership: "Dolly created the image. She laid out all the ground rules. I just followed them."
Summers revealed to Vogue that when Parton was making public appearances, changing into 10 custom outfits a day was normal, noting that an outfit was in production every single day. He added: "Even if she wears a dress that's off the rack, it doesn't look like it by the time she gets it on. There's a customisation that happens no matter what she's wearing." Summers and his costume team produced around 300 custom garments each year, storing the complete archive in a dedicated warehouse.
The secrets behind her trademark wigs
Parton was equally famous for her elaborate wigs. Appearing on David Letterman's talk show, she joked that her hair was so fake it was "a fire hazard," while noting its practical benefits. She famously remarked: "People would ask me how long it took to do my hair, and I'd tell them: 'I don't know, I'm never there.'"
During a 2016 appearance on the Hallmark Channel show Home & Family, Parton revealed that her signature style was actually a teased wig. She explained: "I used to try to keep my own hair teased as big as I like it, and having the bleach and all of that, it just broke off. I thought, 'Why am I going through all that? Why don't I just wear wigs? That way, I never have a bad hair day! I have a big hair day, but not a bad hair day.'"
In her 2021 memoir, Dolly Parton, Songteller, she wrote that she wore wigs "because I wanted to look like the dream I carried in my head," adding that she sought to emulate gospel and country performers. On Home & Family, she joked: "Well, the higher the hair, as they say... But actually, I like the curls. I like the different ones. Gospel singers and country singers just have to have that big hair. It's just a thing."
In a 2020 Good Housekeeping cover story, Parton confirmed she wore wigs daily, calling them her "armor," though she occasionally allowed her natural hair to grow long enough to braid when off stage. Today, a selection of her personal belongings and iconic wigs are preserved for public viewing in the Dolly Suite 1986 at Dollywood's DreamMore Resort & Spa in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
