Dolly Parton was around six when she wrote her first song: Little Tiny Tasseltop, an ode to her corncob doll with corn-silk hair. Her mother stored it preciously in a shoebox.
I loved that little doll, Parton wrote decades later. “I expressed myself and my feelings through writing – I’m sure what I was thinking was, ‘Well, Tasseltop has to have a song about her.’”
Parton never stopped making music after that.
The irrepressible country music singer, songwriter and actress whose charisma, heartfelt lyrics and business acumen captured the public’s imagination for nearly six decades, died yesterday aged 80, her family said in a statement.
No cause of death was disclosed, but her publicist said she died peacefully in Nashville.
Days earlier, she told People magazine she was dealing with unspecified health issues but planned to keep working.
“By her example, we believed anything was possible,” her nephew, Bryan Seaver, said in a video message.
“She never saw a door she couldn’t open, and the doors she opened made and changed history.”
With classic songs including Coat of Many Colours, Jolene and I Will Always Love You, Parton became one of the best-selling female artists of all time, with over 100 million records sold.
She won 11 Grammy awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Parton’s wholesome personality, combined with her towering blond hairdos, flamboyant costumes and giddy delight at holding centre stage, endeared her to Americans of all backgrounds and helped introduce country music to international audiences.
Over the years Parton hosted a TV variety show, starred in movies, and even created a theme park, Dollywood, a popular tourist spot in her home state of Tennessee – all in addition to her lauded work as a songwriter.
But the quality that gave her enduring star power was her ability to connect with people. Coming from a self-described ‘dirt-poor’ family, Parton often stood in as a symbol of the working-class American and regularly threw her name and money behind causes she believed in.
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Parton donated $1 million to vaccine research at Vanderbilt University in 2020, making her an early sponsor of Moderna’s vaccine development.
She conducted a literacy program for preschool children across the United States, as well as in Canada, the UK, Australia and Ireland, and provided scholarships to high school students in the Tennessee county where she was born.
US President Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social, “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. In her honour, I am lowering the American flag throughout the United States for a one week period beginning tonight at 6.00pm. Rest in Peace, Dolly! The World loves you.”
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