Dolly Parton has died at 80
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Dolly Parton, the incomparable icon whose heavenly voice, stellar songwriting, sparkling style and life-changing philanthropy lifted her out of the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee and made her one of the most recognizable people in the world, has died at 80 years old.
- Her family confirmed the news in a video message Tuesday.
What they're saying: "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 for her to meet them in the heavens," Parton's nephew and head of security Bryan Seaver said in the statement.
"She never saw a door she couldn't open, and the doors she opened made and changed history," Seaver said.
- "My family and I have shared a lifetime of beautiful memories with Dolly, but so have you. She has always been on your television, your record player, your CD, and on your phone playlist, becoming an extended part of your family, whether you liked it or not."
The big picture: It's hard to put the scale of Parton's global impact into words.
- She was a boundary-breaking businesswoman, with a tourism empire anchored by her theme park Dollywood.
- She was a tastemaker, who set the standard for the rhinestone-studded style that women in country music have embraced for decades.
- She was a fierce advocate for literacy, whose Imagination Library has sent more than 304 million free books to children all over the world.
But her legacy starts with her music.
Flashback: She moved to Nashville in 1964, a day after graduating from high school, and her dagger-through-the-heart songwriting and other-worldly voice quickly set her apart on Music Row.
- She made her first appearance on "The Porter Wagoner Show" in 1967 and became his designated "girl singer." The show made her a household name, but her magnetism could not be contained to the role of Wagoner's singing sidekick.
She wanted to devote more time to her solo career. When she decided to leave the show in 1974, she wrote a song to help explain her feelings to Wagoner.
- Her bittersweet goodbye would become a modern American standard: "I Will Always Love You."
- That breathtaking ballad, which was a mega-hit for Whitney Houston in the 1990s, was only one of the classics in her crowded arsenal.
Editor's note: This is a breaking story and will be updated.