{"id":4145,"date":"2026-08-25T19:35:31","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T19:35:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=4145"},"modified":"2026-08-25T19:35:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T19:35:31","slug":"dolly-parton-music-star-actor-and-beloved-figure-who-spanned-generations-has-died-at-80","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=4145","title":{"rendered":"Dolly Parton \u2014 music star, actor and beloved figure who spanned generations \u2014 has died at 80"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By KRISTIN M. HALL<\/strong><\/p>\n

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) \u2014\u00a0Dolly Parton, the country music icon whose soaring vibrato vocals,\u00a0poignant songwriting\u00a0and sparkling costumes defined her rise from a log cabin in the Tennessee mountains to the height of stardom and acclaim, has died. She was 80 years old.<\/p>

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Parton died peacefully Tuesday in Nashville, Tennessee, her publicist said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Known for her curvy physique, massive blonde wigs and skin-tight outfits that served\u00a0her self-deprecating wit, she was among the most beloved personalities in music and beyond \u2014 the rare celebrity whose appeal transcended generations, geography and politics.<\/p>\n

She wrote hundreds of songs, including classics like \u201cJolene,\u201d \u201cCoat of Many Colors\u201d and \u201cI Will Always Love You,\u201d that totaled more than 100 million worldwide sales and more than 1 billion online streams. Parton, who plucked bejeweled banjos, guitar and dulcimers with her long fingernails during performances, was a\u00a0generous philanthropist\u00a0and\u00a0successful businesswoman\u00a0whose projects included\u00a0a theme park in the Smoky Mountain foothills\u00a0near her birthplace.<\/p>\n

Her career was forever influenced by her upbringing as one of 12 children born into what she called a \u201cdirt poor\u201d Tennessee family. She started her\u00a0education nonprofit, Imagination Library, to send free books to children in Tennessee because her father, who quit school to work on the farm, struggled to learn to read.<\/p>\n

Parton\u2019s first musical performances were in church, where her grandfather was a preacher. By age 10, she was learning guitar and singing on local television shows. At 13, she appeared on the\u00a0Grand Ole Opry\u00a0in Nashville, where Johnny Cash introduced her as \u201ca little girl here from up in East Tennessee.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a suitcase of songs, she followed her uncle, Bill Owens, also a songwriter, to Nashville after graduating high school in 1964. Fred Foster, who produced Roy Orbison, Willie Nelson and more, saw her potential and got her songs cut by other artists, as well as recording and releasing Parton singing her own material. By the mid-1970s, Parton was a Nashville queen.<\/p>

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