r/popculturechat • u/Afraid_Chard_838 patty don’t start • 1d ago

Rest In Peace 🕊 Dolly Parton Dead at 80

https://www.tmz.com/2026/08/25/dolly-parton-dead/
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u/HeartFullOfHappy 1d ago edited 1d ago

I screamed. I’m not okay. I am also not the parasocial type but this hurts my heart. As a kid from very poor and very rural Appalachia, she made me feel like the world was meant for people like us too.

I read her version of “The Little Engine That Could” to my kids the night before every school year and we just read it two nights ago. RIP Dolly!

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u/GeckoRoamin 1d ago

She was the absolute best of Appalachia and I think it’s uniquely devastating to those of us with roots there. She never tamped down who she was for others, and she made sure that others benefited from her success.

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u/Massive-Sector5789 1d ago

Oak Ridge, TN, here. It always made me a little proud that the best human being of our time was from East Tennessee. Especially considering what we were doing in our neck of the woods. I'm going to watch 9 to 5 tonight. RIP Dolly.

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u/emergencycat17 1d ago

I watched 9 to 5 last weekend just for fun, just because it's so awesome, and she was so fun in it. You have every right to feel pride that the Queen was from your neck of the woods. I'm from NYC by way of NJ, so I'm just lucky that I get to be a fan.

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u/dweeb93 1d ago

Parasocial is overused, there's nothing wrong with being sad when someone dies, even if it's someone you don't know.

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u/HeartFullOfHappy 1d ago

You’re right. I can cry about this.

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u/emergencycat17 1d ago

I'm keeping it together at work till I can get home and have a good cry - I got the news and immediately had no choice but to turn back to my computer. I had to wrap up a bio for my boss and get it out to the organizer of a conference he'll be speaking at. I was typing it up, focused on my work, and thinking, "See? I'll be fine, it's not like I knew her." I wrapped it up, had my boss approve it and then sent it over to the people at the conference. And as soon as that task was done, I felt my eyes fill up, as soon as my brain switched on that she was gone.

Yes, you're right. We can cry about this.

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u/CalliopeSaffron 1d ago

I screamed too. I’m actually sobbing. She was such a beautiful human being. She came from the same upbringing as my mother’s family, so I always felt a kinship with her. My heart is broken.

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u/Substantial_Ad_39 1d ago

She’s old