Dolly Parton welcomes fans to her new Life of Many Colors Museum in a posthumous video released following the opening of her Nashville hotel.
The museum officially opened on Tuesday inside her SongTeller hotel in downtown Nashville, which also began operations the same day. Parton died on August 25 at the age of 80 following a brief secret battle with an undisclosed form of cancer.
In spite of her illness, Parton recorded a promotional clip for the opening. In the video, she expressed her excitement, saying she was "so proud to invite you to my Life of Many Colors Museum, opening right here in the heart of Nashville at my SongTeller Hotel."
She informed fans about the scope of the exhibition, stating: "This museum will be the largest exhibit of my life and career, filled with the stories, songs and memories that I've carried."
Appearing chirpily in the promo, which was released against the backdrop of a legal battle over her estate, Parton added that the display "includes all of the things that have helped this little girl's dreams come true and I can't wait to share it with you."
SongTeller Hotel Pricing and Location
The museum takes its name from Parton's 1971 song Coat of Many Colors, a fan favorite written about a jacket her mother stitched together from rags when Parton was a little girl.
Located on Commerce Street in downtown Nashville, the SongTeller hotel is situated a short distance from South Broadway, the bustling center of the city's nightlife and live music scene.
Room prices at the hotel vary depending on views and layout. A standard room with one king-sized bed costs $428 a night, while a room with a city view costs $448 a night. Guests reserving a room with a river view will pay $478 a night.
Personal Artifacts and Interactive Exhibits
Located on the third floor of the hotel, the museum houses artifacts from Parton's life and career. Displays include the wedding dress she wore when she married her husband, Carl Dean, in 1966.
Dean died at age 82 of private causes in March 2025, two months before what would have been the couple's 59th wedding anniversary. Parton is buried next to him at Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Nashville, where she was laid to rest in high heels three days after her death.
Her bridal gown is exhibited inside a display case designed to resemble the Ringgold First Baptist Church in Georgia, where Parton and Dean were married.
Parton's niece, Rebecca Seaver, who oversaw the creation of the museum, spoke about the display to Vogue. Seaver stated: "Theirs is one of the great American love stories, so it’s an absolute honor to be able to share it with everybody."
Seaver explained that the exhibition starts with "an immersive walkthrough of her life," covering her birth in a log cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and her first meeting with Dean at the Wishy Washy laundromat in Nashville.
Visitors are guided through the exhibits by audio clips of Parton called "Dolly-grams," which allow the singer to serve as "the conductor for the symphony."
Reflecting on setting up the exhibits, Seaver shared: "We’re so fortunate that we were able to have that time with her to not just record those moments, but also with the archive, to be able to sit down with her and ask: 'What do you want to show people?'"
The museum also features the restored dress Parton wore on the cover art for her 1973 song Jolene, in which she begs the title character: "Please don't take my man."
Seaver noted that the outfit had not previously been displayed: "we’ve never shown the outfit that she wore on the cover of Jolene because it needed some love. But we’ve given it that love, and Dolly was really excited about that."
Legal Battle Over Estate
The opening of the hotel and museum comes amid an ongoing dispute over Parton's estate involving her nephew, Bryan Seaver. Bryan, who is Rebecca's brother, worked as Parton's head of security and was chosen by her to announce her death on video last month.
At the center of the dispute is a dispute between Bryan Seaver and Danny Nozell, Parton's manager of more than 20 years. Nozell fired Bryan this month and obtained a temporary restraining order against him under Parton's company, She's Alive LLC.
In court filings, Nozell alleged that Bryan demanded money and began "invoking his self-proclaimed military-contractor experience, access to weapons, and capacity for violence."
Nozell claimed Bryan called himself a "killer" and told him: "All I do is warfare…everyone needs to be worried about what I might do."
Bryan Seaver denied the allegations, calling the restraining order "spurious" and describing it as "simply a publicity stunt" in a statement to People.
Addressing the comments, Bryan said: "Dolly called me her killer," adding: "It was a joke we used around her camp. I was her 'baby boy ninja' and Danny Nozell took that text out of context to somehow imagine that I was threatening him. He’s always called me The Killer."
Prior Exhibitions and Airport Renaming
Before Parton's death, an exhibition about her life had opened at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. That exhibition includes the tape recorder she used while writing classic songs such as Jolene, I Will Always Love You, and The Seeker.
Parton's death followed several months of health concerns that led her to cancel a series of public appearances.
In an interview published in People four days before her death, Parton said she still had "so many things I want to achieve" and intended to keep "working as long as I can to see everything come to life." She mentioned she was dealing with "some health issues that I just didn’t pay attention to when I was watching over Carl."
Following her death, officials announced plans to rename Nashville International Airport in her honor.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority issued a statement to Page Six confirming that Parton's representatives supported the renaming.
Governor Lee said: "Dolly Parton’s extraordinary life is forever woven into the fabric of our state. From her rural mountain home in East Tennessee to global stages, Dolly carried the Volunteer Spirit with her."
He added: "At a place where Tennessee welcomes the world, it is fitting that Nashville International Airport would bear the name of our state’s favorite daughter and greet travelers with the enduring legacy of Dolly’s music, generosity, faith, and kindness."
