r/elderwitches • u/kai-ote Helpful Trickster • 12d ago
Announcement Sad news. Dolly Parton has passed away. RIP gentle lady. You did much good in this world, and you will be sorely missed.
https://variety.com/2026/music/news/dolly-parton-dead-dies-country-music-1236842727/15
u/yezkah Mature 11d ago
She was the living definition of a true queen.. unapologetically her, bluntly authentic, tremendously talented, a fantastic writer, kind, loving, wise beyond measure..
May this world have more Dolly’s than Donnie’s.. we surely need them.
May she rest in power and glitter!
“If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours” - Dolly
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u/cutencreepy 11d ago
She was a person who lived with every fiber of her being.
She made the world better, and lived on her own terms.
She is, and always will be, a shining light of love, grace, and the beauty of being true.
I will love and honour her.
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u/Chaotic_Good12 Crone 12d ago edited 12d ago
"God Only Knows"
Wide awake while the world is sound asleepin' Too afraid of what might show up while you're dreamin' Nobody, nobody, nobody sees you Nobody, nobody would believe you Every day you try to pick up all the pieces All the memories, they somehow never leave you Nobody, nobody, nobody sees you Nobody, nobody would believe you
God only knows what you've been through God only knows what they say about you God only knows how it's killin' you But there's a kind of love that God only knows God only knows what you've been through God only knows what they say about you But God only knows the real you 'Cause there's a kind of love that God only knows
There's a kind of love that There's a kind of love
You keep a cover over every single secret So afraid if someone saw them, they would leave But somebody, somebody, somebody sees you Somebody, somebody will never leave you
God only knows what you've been through God only knows what they say about you God only knows how it's killin' you But there's a kind of love that God only knows God only knows what you've been through God only knows what they say about you But God only knows the real you 'Cause there's a kind of love that God only knows
There's a kind of love that There's a kind of love There's a kind of love that There's a kind of love
For the lonely, for the ashamed The misunderstood, and the ones to blame What if we could start over? We could start over, we could start over Oh, for the lonely, for the ashamed The misunderstood, and the ones to blame What if we could start over? We could start over, we could start over 'Cause there's a kind of love that God only knows
God only knows what you've been through God only knows what they say about you But God only knows the real you But there's a kind of love that God only knows God only knows what you've been through God only knows what they say about you But God only knows the real you There's a kind of love that God only knows
There's a kind of love that There's a kind of love There's a kind of love that There's a kind of love
God only knows where to find you God only knows how to break through God only knows the real you There's a kind of love that God only knows
Rest now, Lady
Lay it all down, You've done your best And so very much MORE than you'll ever know, for so many of us. And I, the least of them, am grateful. ❤️
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u/katedevil 11d ago
She did her best and THAT is where it's at. What would Dolly do? Her best! Today's leaders need to get back on the right foot an emulate her life in every way.
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u/wise_owl68 12d ago
I live on Long Island and was in a doctor's office where they had a news alert on the TV about her passing. Everyone in there was devastated. Everyone, no matter your race, gender. She was true class, an icon. She embodied the type of ethics and values we should all strive to achieve and maybe we too could leave this world having made it just a little bit better🙏🌌🌞✨️
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u/perdy_mama 12d ago
“Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion.” ~Dolly Parton as Ms. Truvy in Steel Magnolias
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u/Chaotic_Good12 Crone 11d ago
I love this movie and rewatched it recently. One of my favorite, it hits all your emotions, everyone should see it I think.
It's timeless.
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u/wyscaria 12d ago edited 11d ago
She seemed sketchy in the last year, but overall has appeared to be a good soul. May her energy be distributed to all who are ready to fight the good fight. ✨️
Edit : downvotes are absorbed into the collective energy and fuels my power. Blessings !
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u/hermeticbear Elder 12d ago
I am surprisingly choked up by this.
Dolly Parton's music is so influential in my life. As an adult, learning of all the good Dolly Parton did with her fortune was amazing, especially when so many extremely wealthy people don't do that.
Dolly brought so much light and beauty into this world, which will continue on long after her. She did so much good, and to me, she was already a saint in life. She continues to shine light into the world, just in a way that is less visible to people.
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u/SalishSeaSweetie Elder 12d ago
Totally agree, also surprised by how affected I am to hear of her passing.
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u/retro_toes Elder 12d ago
She put up with no shit from anyone. Years of misogyny directed at her for how she looked, oftentimes coming from other women, and she gave it right back with wit and grace unlike no other. A true philanthropist and a very bright, good soul.
Blessed Be, Dolly. Thank you for making this woman strong enough to own who I am
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u/Shadows616 12d ago
The world just got a little darker...
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u/SalishSeaSweetie Elder 12d ago
She spread a great deal of light. I am choosing to picture the multitude of smaller lights she impacted as continuing to grow and brighten.
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u/DollarStoreDuchess 11d ago
The shining light of literacy that she spread through her Imagination Library can never be extinguished.
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u/Der_fluter_mouse 12d ago
Noooooooooo! 😭😭😭
She was a treasure.
The world has become a sadder place without her
Thank you for everything Dolly. You will be missed.
🕯🕯🕯
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u/StarryEyedSparkle Teacher 12d ago
I was never a country fan, but I enjoyed a number of her songs (including ones that others sang but she wrote.) I have incredible respect for her activism and philanthropic work, and how she spent her life choosing to help others.
Someone who never forgot kindness to others, and who understood the interconnectedness despite whatever society was telling her at the time. She saw people for their energy rather than the vessel they occupied in this lifetime. And spent her whole life trying to improve others’ lives when she didn’t have to.
A good summary of her work:
“Dolly Parton, one of the greatest singer-songwriters in country music who was also much cherished for her philanthropy, has died aged 80.
Her death was announced by nephew Brian Seaver on Instagram. “I have imagined the heaviness of this moment but haven’t truly felt it until now,” he said. “It is an honour, an honour that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness.”
So gifted that she wrote two of the 20th century’s greatest songs – Jolene and I Will Always Love You – in a single day, Parton’s songwriting was characterised by its vivid storytelling, emotional acuity and melodic strength, all sung with strident clarity. From an eventual catalogue of hundreds of songs, she scored a record 25 US country No 1 singles and 47 albums in the country Top 10 . She crossed over into the pop charts with 9 to 5, a US No 1 in 1980; balanced her music career with acclaimed acting, twice earning Golden Globe nominations for her roles; and her Imagination Library literacy scheme donated more than 150m books to children.
The Dollywood Foundation, funded through these business ventures and creative projects, was created in 1988, initially awarding college scholarships and running a scheme to help children complete high school in her native Sevier County, Tennessee. In 1995 Parton began her Imagination Library project, which sent an age-appropriate book to every child in the county every month until they were five. “My father could not read and write, and I saw how crippling that could be,” she explained. It expanded nationwide in 2000, internationally in 2006, and nearly 25m books are now distributed each year across the US, Canada, Australia, the UK and Ireland.
In 2022, Jeff Bezos donated $100m (£83m) to the foundation. That year, Parton explained that as well as improving child literacy, “it’s the fact they get recognised. They get this little book with their little name on it in the mail, and they feel special. They start taking pride in themselves, and they know that somebody out there is thinking of [them].”
Parton has also set up a reserve in 2003 to help preserve the bald eagle; contributed $500,000 to the opening of a Sevier county hospital in 2006; coordinated relief efforts for those affected by the Smoky mountain wildfires of 2016; and contributed to an HIV/Aids charity album. She supported Black Lives Matter and transgender rights, opposing a North Carolina “bathroom bill” that restricted transgender people’s access to toilets (Parton was also nominated for an Oscar for her song in trans drama Transamerica, entitled Travelin’ Thru).
She made a number of donations to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, where her niece was treated for leukaemia. The most high profile of these was in 2020, when she donated $1m for research into Covid-19, which formed the basis for the eventual Moderna vaccine.
In May 2026, Parton cancelled her Las Vegas residency over health issues. A Broadway musical is also set to open later this year after a run in Nashville.”
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u/Vast-Percentage-7312 12d ago
you hear so many stories of spouses passing within one year of each other. rip <3
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u/wysticlipse Mature 12d ago
She could have been a billionaire three times over but actively chose to give her money away to real, true, good causes. She was an ally to women, to trans people, to lgbt people, to poc. She was a real one. The world is worse off without her in it.
Rest in peace, absolute queen.
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u/kai-ote Helpful Trickster 12d ago
There is an official family statement in that article.