Country music icon Dolly Parton died on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, in Nashville at age 80 after a brief battle with cancer. Her family announced the news in a video posted to her social media accounts. Publicist Marcel Pariseau later confirmed she died at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, surrounded by loved ones, after being admitted on Friday, August 21.
Her nephew Bryan Seaver, who served as her head of security for more than two decades after his father, Larry, held the same role, delivered the message she had asked him years earlier to give when the time came.
“This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality,” Seaver said. “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.”
He continued: “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.”
Parton had spoken publicly in recent years about health problems, including kidney stones and immune and digestive issues. She canceled a planned Las Vegas residency in May 2026. Her husband of nearly 60 years, Carl Dean, died in March 2025. She later said she had neglected her own care while looking after him.
A nationwide mark of respect
President Donald Trump paid tribute on Truth Social the day her death was announced. “Very sad to report that Dolly Parton, one of the greatest Country singers, and far beyond, EVER, has just passed away. This is a true loss for millions of people. There has never been anyone like her, and never will,” he wrote.
He ordered U.S. flags flown at half-staff “as a mark of respect” for her memory at the White House, public buildings and grounds, military posts, naval stations, and federal vessels in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its territories until sunset on September 1, 2026. The same order applied to U.S. embassies, consular offices, and military facilities abroad.
The honor is uncommon for a private citizen who never held elected office. Flags remain lowered through sunset today.
Declining the Medal of Freedom
Parton long avoided partisan politics. She declined the Presidential Medal of Freedom more than once. In a 2021 interview on NBC’s Today, she said the Trump administration offered the award twice. She turned down the first invitation because her husband was ill and the second because she did not want to travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.
When the Biden administration later approached her, she said, “I feel like if I take it, it’ll be doing politics, so I’m not so sure.” She added that she did not work for awards and was not sure she even deserved the honor.
She often explained that she had Republican and Democratic fans and did not want to offend either side. “I am not political, and I refuse to get caught up in political things,” she told USA Today in 2020.
Trump’s remarks after her death
The day after her death was announced, Trump discussed Parton on Glenn Beck’s radio program. He said losing her felt “like you lose a member of the family” because “we all knew her so well.”
“I knew her a little bit. She wasn’t a very political person. She really liked me, I will tell you,” he said. He added that she believed taking sides risked alienating fans: “She was of the opinion, you know, the 50% — who needs to lose? I don’t think it’s 50. I think it’s probably 20% of the fans, okay?”
“But she was a great person, and she was just a nice person. You know, I liked her a lot, and I thought it was a natural thing to lower the flags.”
Trump used her song “Jolene” on a campaign playlist. How close they were personally is not publicly documented. Parton never endorsed him and never publicly confirmed the affinity he described.
A career built on songs, work, and giving
Born Dolly Rebecca Parton on January 19, 1946, in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, she was the fourth of 12 children in a poor family. She turned that upbringing into songs such as “Coat of Many Colors,” “Jolene,” “I Will Always Love You,” and “9 to 5.” She sold more than 100 million records, acted in films, built Dollywood, and created the Imagination Library, which has given hundreds of millions of books to children.
She was laid to rest beside Carl Dean in a private family service. Fans were asked to donate to the Imagination Library rather than send flowers.
Parton’s gift was to feel both larger than life and close at hand. Flags lowered through September 1 are one official expression of that loss. The songs, the books, and the memory of a woman who tried to stay above the fight are the rest.
