Country music singer and American icon Dolly Parton has passed away at 80 years old.

“Sadness lies with us, not with Dolly,” said Bryan Seaver, Parton’s nephew, in the video announcing her death. “Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus.”

The singer’s representatives confirmed Parton had dealt with a “brief battle with cancer,” and died at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Tennessee “surrounded by loved ones.”

Parton had a lengthy musical career, writing over 3,000 songs over half a century. Throughout her career, she released 49 albums and won 11 Grammys. Her biggest hits included “Jolene,” “I Will Always Love You” and “9 to 5,” which sought to capture the American experience.

From humble beginnings, Parton was born in a one-room cabin in Tennessee, the fourth of 12 children.

She founded The Dolly Parton Imagination Library in 1995 in honor of her late father, Robert Lee Parton, who never learned how to read. The program, established in Parton’s home county in eastern Tennessee, began as an initiative to encourage children in the area to read. The program is active now in all 50 states and four other countries — Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia — and provides millions of books every month to children in need.

“Dolly opened doors not just for me, but for her entire family to reach the potential we didn’t even know was possible,” said Seaver.

The Imagination Library has given out 304,539,509 books since it was founded. Over 40 million books were given in 2025, which equates to one book mailed every 0.78 seconds.

“When I was growing up in the hills of East Tennessee, I knew my dreams would come true,” Parton said in a statement on the Imagination Library website. “I know there are children in your community with their own dreams. They dream of becoming a doctor or an inventor or a minister. Who knows, maybe there is a little girl whose dream is to be a writer and singer. The seeds of these dreams are often found in books and the seeds you help plant in your community can grow across the world.”

In October 2025, the New York State Library awarded $15,000 to the Binghamton City School District to fund a partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

“Dolly Parton was one of the great entertainers of our era,” U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders wrote on X. “She was not only a talented musician and songwriter, but a lifelong philanthropist and advocate for literacy, education, LGBTQ+ rights, healthcare, and disaster relief. Her music and humanity touched millions. She will be sorely missed.”

Parton openly supported LGBTQ rights throughout her career. Parton also supported drag artists and posted on X in 2010, “It’s a good thing I was born a girl, otherwise I’d be a drag queen.”

She also voiced support for the Black Lives Matter movement in an interview with Billboard.

Parton spoke about her health struggles in October of this year and had postponed multiple concerts. In May, she cancelled all of her Las Vegas shows and told fans that her health was “improving every day.”

Paige Hinckley, a senior majoring in biology, expressed sadness over Parton’s passing.

“It’s really sad to see such an icon go, I even named my cat after her,” wrote Hinckley in an email to Pipe Dream.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump ordered flags to be flown at half-staff at the White House and at public buildings and grounds until sunset on Sept. 1. Tennessee State Senator Jessie Seal announced on Wednesday that he is proposing legislation to designate Sept. 25 as “9 to 5 Day,” after one of Parton’s most famous songs, to honor her life and legacy.

“I always count my blessings more than I count my money,” said Parton in an interview with CBS News. “I don’t work for money, never did. It was the art, it was the job, I love the work. And I’ve done well, and I’m thankful for it.”