The painful news was announced on August 25 by her nephew, who shared a video on the social network “Instagram”.
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On August 21, Parton spoke about her health condition and admitted that her health had deteriorated recently. Earlier, in March 2025, her husband Carl Dean passed away.
“As I shared in video messages over the past year, I am facing some health issues that I simply ignored because I was taking care of Carl,” the singer told PEOPLE at the time.
She also did not hide that health difficulties are not new to her. According to Parton, in the early 1980s she was out of her normal life for several months due to women’s health problems, and at that time she also faced weight issues.
The singer noted that nowadays, living in a constant social media stream, any news is greatly exaggerated.
“I used to joke that I was the queen of tabloid press, and now, I guess, I can say I am the queen of social media artificial intelligence,” she joked.
Despite health problems, Parton insisted she does not intend to stop: “Although I am still recovering, I am still working! You know me – I often said that I trapped myself with my dreams. I still have so many things I want to accomplish, so I will work as long as I can to make all my dreams come true.”
Parton’s career, spanning many decades, made her one of the brightest country music performers.
She is the best-selling female artist in country music history – more than 160 million albums sold worldwide. She released her debut album “Hello, I’m Dolly” in 1967, and later gave the world hits like “I Will Always Love You,” “9 to 5,” and “Jolene.”
Dolly Parton was born in 1946 in the town of Pittman Center, Tennessee. She grew up in a large family – she had 11 brothers and sisters. The family lived in poverty. “We were never really hungry, but sometimes we really didn’t have enough food,” the singer told PEOPLE in 1977.
Music came into her life very early. At just six years old, she began playing guitar and singing in her grandfather’s church, and a year later she was already writing her first songs.
Although as an adult she was known for her distinctive glamour, in 2003 she told PEOPLE that her childhood appearance was quite different. “I had freckles and a gap between my front teeth. All the clothes were either homemade or handed down from others. (…) I always wanted to be prettier. I started caring about my appearance. I wanted tight clothes, bright makeup, long nails, and red lips. I liked that,” she admitted.
Throughout her career, Dolly Parton received a lot of attention for her impressive appearance, but she never shied away from making fun of it herself and often was the first to turn her image into a joke.
After finishing high school, in 1964 she moved to Nashville. There she sang in clubs and wrote songs for other performers. “My songs got me out of the mountains and took me wherever I wanted to go,” the singer told PEOPLE in 2012.
Her big career breakthrough came when country music star Porter Wagoner invited her to become his partner on the television show “The Porter Wagoner Show.” He helped her get a recording contract, but Parton’s first major successes were duets with her stage partner.
“I will always remain a country music performer because I am a country girl. My style is my soul and feelings. Through my songs, I will tell the world what I could not even tell my mother,” Dolly Parton said in 1975.
Relationship with husband Carl Thomas Dean
Dolly’s relationship with her husband Carl Thomas Dean also made a great impression.
The couple met in 1964 at the self-service laundry “Wishy Washy” in Nashville, Tennessee, on the same day D. Parton moved there to live.
She was 18 years old, and he was 21.
“I was surprised and happy that when he talked to me, he looked at my face – that’s a rare thing for me,” the singer said.
“It seemed that he sincerely wanted to know who I am and what I do,” she added.
They married two years after meeting, in 1966, with only D. Parton’s mother, a preacher, and his wife attending the ceremony.
The couple lived a simple private life and avoided publicity.
“We like to travel in our little camper and just be simple,” D. Parton told People magazine in 2015. “I like reading, cooking, being with my husband.”
The couple had no children.
C. Dean was born in 1942 to Edgar Henry Dean and Virginia Bates. The country music legend’s husband had a brother Donnie and a sister Sandra.
D. Parton maintained warm and friendly relations with her husband’s mother, calling her her best friend.
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