The country music community is heartbroken over the loss of Dolly Parton, who has passed away. Parton was 80 years old when she died on August 25. A member of the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame, in recent months, Parton has canceled appearances while she battled various health issues, although she did not disclose any details.
On August 12, Parton made her final video appearance, sharing details about her forthcoming new My Life Of Many Colors museum, slated to open this fall inside her new SongTeller Hotel.
Her nephew, Bryan Seaver, son of her sister, Cassie, shared the heartbreaking news.
“I am representing the Parton and Owens family, announcing the passing of my aunt Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean,” Seaver begins. “Sister, sis, Aunt Granny to one generation, and GiGi to the next. This video announcement is something that Dolly asked me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality. 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. It is an honor, but an honor that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness.
“But sadness lies with us, not with Dolly,” he adds. “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.”
Dolly Parton’s Impact On Her Family And the World
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Seavers goes on to say that he first went on the road with Parton in the early 1980s, sharing the impact she had not only on him, but on his family, and the entire world.
“Dolly opened doors not just for me, but for her entire family to reach the potential we didn’t even know was possible,” Seavers says. “Dolly also opened doors for generations of singers, songwriters, musicians, and dreamers from every walk of life, and across every continent. By her example, we believe that anything is possible. She never saw a door she couldn’t open. And the doors she opened made and changed history. My family and I have shared a lifetime of beautiful memories with Dolly.”
Seavers concludes his message by sharing how Parton’s legacy will continue, even as she is profoundly missed.
“Our family and the team she has entrusted with her legacy will work diligently to ensure her spirit will live with us forever,” Seavers says. “Dolly was a farmer, just like her daddy. He farmed the soil; she farmed songs and happiness. Dolly called me and said she wants to rest in a beautiful bed of plush cotton, because after a life wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserved to be comfortable, and have some rest. Rest in peace, Aunt Dolly … May God bless Dolly Parton, and may God bless you all. She will always love you.”
The family will hold a private memorial service. Fans are encouraged to share their remembrances using @DollyParton or on her website. In lieu of flowers, gifts can be made in her honor to her Imagination Library.
Parton is preceded in death by her husband of 59 years Carl Thomas Dean, her mother, Avie Lee Caroline Owens, and father, Robert Lee Parton, Sr.