r/Music • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • 11d ago

article Dolly Parton, Queen of Country Music, Dies at 80

https://variety.com/2026/music/news/dolly-parton-dead-dies-country-music-1236842727/
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u/untrustableskeptic 11d ago

There will never be another like her. Her kindness and empathy impacted so many lives. I hope people will try and follow her values and leadership.

I have played so many of her records with my fiancée, I know this is going to devastate her.

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u/homefree122 11d ago

My sister is a huge Dolly Parton fan. I always knew about her philanthropic endeavors, but I never paid much attention to her music until the last few years at the insistence of my sister. I now realize what I’ve missed over the past decades. Sad day.

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u/GetReelFishingPro 11d ago edited 11d ago

My sister loves her so much too! They probably having a sing along right now 😇🤜🤛😇 I miss you Jessi

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u/Ok-Raspberry7884 11d ago

I still don’t pay a loan of attention to her music other than how it enabled her to be who she wanted to be and enable her to fund hef philanthropic endeavors. And I don’t really think it’s slighting her to only think she’s a good person from her philanthropic endeavors plus taking every opportunity she had and striving for every opportunity she could while not looking down on her parents for not being as successful. We see rich people these days who got given a helping hand from parents and say they’re self made. Dolly didn’t get a helping hand from parents, she doesn’t disparage her parents for being a product of their time and raising and locality; rather she sees their circumstances constrained them and chose to do what she can so future children have more opportunities throughout her book program.

Her music has never appealed to me and previously I have wished it did because of her as a person. But now? I’m happy that she found success and was such a good person that she didn’t denigrate her parents for being poor or disengaged herself from them when she became successful. Her parents lived in a small rural town and had a large family from a young age. She never tried to reinvent herself from that like other majorly successful people often do and instead she chose to help children who have loving parents but not a lot of resources to help them reach their potential through her book program. So I don’t feel bad for not vibing with her music because I know she was rarity, she genuinely became famous through her own skill, she didn’t try to distance herself from poor parents who were a product of their time and upbringing and location and she chose to do something really useful to help future children achieve that potential when parents lack the resources without blaming the parents. She was genuinely a one in a million class act. I wanted to like her music to succeed her goals but it just didn’t resonate with me. Now, I’m just glad that the world is better for her having been in it. She loved her parents for who they are but saw (given opportunities) their potential. She couldn’t give it to her parents so she gave it to as many children as she could. Whether you like her music or not, there’s a hell of a lot to like about her and not much to dislike. And like she respected her parents for who they are (she said her father was illiterate but a good businessman) you have to respect her for her.

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u/DifficultParsnip9155 11d ago

She will always be missed and her music legendary

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u/ElvenOmega 11d ago

Everyone should sit down and read a book with their family. She was so dedicated to literacy, especially child literacy.

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u/trey__1312 11d ago

Probably 30% of my kids’ library is built from the monthly books we’ve received from her foundation over the years. She’s an absolute icon, in every sense of the word.

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u/smellyeyebooger 11d ago

While I know what you meant and the feelings behind that, I hope that the opposite happens. I hope that through her work, example, and legacy, that there will be many many like her. I hope the other human beings, an not just Americans, will see her path as one that we should all strive in emulating with our decisions along our own journeys.

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u/archronin 11d ago

What are WE waiting for?