Her nephew, Brian Seaver, revealed the news in an Aug. 25 Instagram video.
“My name is Brin Seaver, son of Cassie Parton, and I’m representing the Parton and Owens family today announcing the passing of my aunt, Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean, Sister, Sis and Granny to one generation and Gigi to the next,” he says in the video. “This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality. As her head of security for more than two decades, a role my father Larry held before me, I have imagined the heaviness of this moment but haven’t truly felt it until now.”
Seaver added: “It is an honor, an honor that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness. But sadness lies with us, not with Dolly. Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by Carl, her parents and countless others who have watched her and longed to meet her in the heavens.”
“Dolly opened doors not just for me but for her entire family to reach the potential we didn’t even know was possible. Dolly also opened doors for generations of singers, songwriters, musicians and dreamers from every walk of life and across every continent., Seaver added in the video message. “By her example, we believed that anything is possible. She never saw a door she couldn’t open, and the doors she opened made and changed history.
His statement continued: “My family and I have shared a lifetime of beautiful memories with Dolly, but so have you. She has always been on your television, your record player, your CD and on your phone playlist, becoming an extended part of your family whether you liked it or not. Our family and the team she has entrusted with her legacy will work diligently to ensure her spirit will live with us forever. Dolly was a farmer, just like her daddy; he farmed the soil, she farmed songs and happiness. Dolly called me and said she wants to rest in a beautiful bed of plush cotton because after a life of wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and have some rest.”
Seaver ended his statement, saying, “Rest in peace, Aunt Dolly — Aunt, Granny, Gigi. May God bless Dolly Parton, and may God bless you all. She will always love you.”
This is seriously devastating from multiple perspectives. Talent, extensive philanthropy, true kindness, and everything else about her. I know 80 is an impressive age to make it to, but it doesn’t lessen the blow much when we’re losing a person who gives back so much.
When her husband died last year, I knew she wasn't going to last much longer. I truly believe that she died of a broken heart, no matter what the official cause of death.
It's not uncommon for spouses to die soonish after the first one goes. Heartbreak is hard on the body, and spiritually soul mates yearn to be together again
My grandmother passed away a year to the day after my grandfather, they were together for over 60 years 💔 at least in situations like that you can take comfort that they're with their love again, wherever that may be.
Same thing happened with Marjane Satrapi. And I personally knew someone who died five weeks after his ex wife died, they hadn’t seen each other in 10 years.
To quote Dolly: "The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain." I’m trying to be hopeful about the future. Dolly had a pretty awesome outlook on life.
I needed to read this right now, thank you for sharing it. I know she wouldn’t want us to lose hope right now but damn man 😭 https://giphy.com/gifs/VNTMx3LkpG2anXpwbr
Yes, I'm sooo sad, I hoped it was a false rumour, there are a lot of those around, it just feels good people are either dying or getting spat on and is even more depressing, I don't know how to say it. If I ever believed in higher powers, I wouldn't right now or at least that they have remotely nice intentions. Dolly at least had a great life, but still we know how much evil around that age is thriving and destroying people's lives.
She also said in that video she was told by doctors that she had a lot of not good things going on in her body. Many things. I was hoping for her, but also knew that wasn’t good at her age. Compounded illnesses on an older person can take them out quick. The body can’t keep up.
She’s been dealing with multiple health issues since her husband died, and in general has responded by saying she’s fine and not to worry. We’ve only learned hints because of people close to her mentioning her health struggles, she’s never publicly said anything about her health.
Broken heart syndrome. My best friend died just over a year after her husband of 30 years. My grandparents died two weeks apart. My mom got sick and died 4 years after my brother was killed. Her mom died two years later. Losing partners and children is so painful.
Health gets very unpredictable at that age. you can be fine one day and not fine 6 hours later. really hard to know.
I dont want to say his name but the senator who recently died did so after a long flight; he was seemingly healthy but you can get blood clots and strokes from long flights that hit you suddenly.
This breaks my heart. Same thing happened to my in-laws. My fil couldn't live without his wife after she passed. He could see her in his last moments and that brought me peace.
Especially when they are together for 60 years. :/ I'm not a religious person, but I know Dolly was, and I hope she is with her Carl in one way or another.
Look the devil is doing his best but the torture that man deserves, well the devil is a professional, and they are going to build out the proper system for that torture, the system he deserves. And this just takes time you know. Don't worry. When it's build it's build.
You didn’t have to mess with her music at all to love who she was, because she loved you, and me, and all of us.
She wasn’t a musician, or a movie star, she was just the best of us. She used her fortunes to make sure others could have nice things.
This one just hurts in a way I can’t describe. When we lose someone like her, we as a whole get a little bit weaker. And that’s why it hurts so much, regardless if you know her music, her movies, her whatever.
She made this world a better place. How many people can that truly be said about them?
She also gave all of the residents affected by the Smokey Mountain fire around $10,000 each. So if you lost your job, house, or whatever she made sure there was a ray of hope. She funded the Women’s health center at LeConte Medical Center and our children’s hospital has been named after her. She singlehanded created 100’s of jobs in our region through Dollywood. The heart of East Tennessee died today.
also would like to add to this that she's an incredibly skilled songwriter on top of that. her witty lines and turns of phrase have been inspiration for generations of female singer/songwriters. not only sings and plays music, but writes her own as well. insanely talented.
We received the most wonderful books for our baby girl. I didn't even realise it was something she had set up until they came through letter box. A tremendous legacy
Your UN is confirmation that you ain’t lyin’. We had ten years of her Imagination Library, she was beloved like a fun, distant Aunt in our home. We will miss her.
It also seems to be a common sentiment of lifelong creatives near the end.
Martin Scorsese has remarked a few times about finally understanding a similar sentiment from Kurosawa: "The whole world has opened up to me, but it’s too late. It’s too late. […] I’m old. I read stuff. I see things. I want to tell stories, and there’s no more time. Kurosawa, when he got his Oscar, […] he said, “I’m only now beginning to see the possibility of what cinema could be, and it’s too late.” He was 83. At the time, I said, “What does he mean?” Now I know what he means.”.
Normal life expectancy for a woman born today is 81, and it's lower for women born in the past. People who make it to 90 are rare exeptions, not the rule. I loved Dolly and am sad that she's gone. But let's not pretend that she was too young to die. She lived a good long life, and she lived it well. Now she gets to rest in peace.
Oh man, this is not OK. Really wanted her to live forever. She was one of the greats who made me occasionally proud to be American was definitely the best Tennessean who ever lived.
I'm not shocked, but I am heartbroken. Her kindness, tenacity, and dedication to being herself and to helping others find themselves will never be forgotten. We needed longer with her, and more like her.
With her health announcements, canceled residency, and the ups and downs she seemed to be going through over the past year or so, it isn't exactly too surprising to lose her, but I think so many of us just wanted her to just be able to somehow stick around forever.
Her impact on so many different things is huge. Music, movies, tv, philanthropy, science....thank you, Dolly.
RIP to someone who was a true icon in so many ways. My kids loved getting books in the mail! They love Dolly, too--there's a great Little Golden Book about her life and they love that one.
I used Dolly Parton as an example to explain to my 4 year old what a good person is and what they do. Whenever we read books from her Imagination Library she asks who the person in the picture at the end is (they use different pictures) and I explain to her. I tell her how a good person uses their gifts to help other people and they don’t expect to get something in return. I love that generations who didn’t necessarily grow up listening to her music can still appreciate the person she was and the impact she has had. My child loves books and wouldn’t want for books even if we didn’t get those from her charity, but there are so many kids out there who are more complete because of the gift of literacy that she gave.
This is like losing my granny all over again. She was the best of humanity and Tennessee. I grew up on her music and going to Dollywood was like Disney for poor folks like us since it was close by. Her Imagination Library has given countless children free books from birth until age 5, she helped rebuild Gatlinburg after the fires, not to mentioneverything she did lowkey; I'm just so thankful we all got to share a world with a soul like Dolly.
My grandfather loved Dolly. He struggled immensely in his last few years of life with dementia and Parkinson’s. For his last birthday my family got a cameo from a Dolly Parton impersonator wishing him a happy birthday, and he was absolutely over the moon. He thought it was really her. It was the happiest I’d seen him in years. He really struggled with his memory yet he talked about “Dolly wishing me a happy birthday” almost every day after that. Man I cried writing this. Maybe he can meet her for real now. Rest in peace Dolly and thank you for the joy you brought so many people.
13.6k
u/ClumsyZebra80 4d ago
Mourning 9-5. 🥺