East Tennessee and the world mourn loss of entertainment legend with local roots
The East Tennessee Catholic
Dolly Parton, the iconic entertainer and global phenomenon whose music career spanned seven decades and attracted generations of fans around the world and who rose from an adolescent Sevier County songstress to the “Queen of Country Music,” died on Aug. 25 at the age of 80.
The Diocese of Knoxville is remembering the late Mrs. Parton—whose career as a singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman, and philanthropist has become legendary—as “one of our own.”
Bishop Mark Beckman said he was “very sorry to hear of her passing” and is “praying for those who are mourning her loss.”
Dolly Parton is pictured early in her illustrious career. People around the world are mourning Mrs. Parton’s death on Aug. 25 at the age of 80. (Photo courtesy Wikimedia commons)
“She made a wonderful contribution to our world and our community, and she will be greatly missed,” Bishop Beckman said.
The diocese further stated that “she was a daughter of Sevier County, and her life carried the spirit of our mountain home far beyond the Smokies.”
Mrs. Parton was born on Jan. 19, 1946, in Pittman Center before her family moved to Locust Ridge, which is in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Parton parents and their 12 children lived in a small, wood-frame cabin with no electricity or running water.
At age 6, Dolly began playing guitar and singing in her grandfather’s Protestant church in Sevier County. She was a 1964 graduate of Sevier County High School, where she played the drum in the school marching band.
Her Christian upbringing would stay with her for the rest of her life, and she frequently shared that faith with her fans and the public, whether through hymns and religious songs she recorded, stories she shared, or in her daily walk of life. She was universally beloved.
A young Dolly’s performances around Sevier County drew the attention of grocer Cas Walker, also a Sevier County native, who sponsored his own local radio broadcast and television show in Knoxville, “The Cas Walker Farm and Home Hour.” Mr. Walker featured Dolly on his program in 1956 when she was 10.
A 13-year-old Dolly recorded the song “Puppy Love” that she wrote with her uncle, Bill Owens, when she was 11. It was Mr. Owens who drove Dolly to her first professional performances on Mr. Walker’s variety show and Knoxville’s WIVK radio station.
Those early appearances in Sevier and Knox counties led Mrs. Parton to pursue her dream of becoming a singer/songwriter in Nashville, where she relocated to in 1964, the day after her high-school graduation.
Her graduation gamble paid off. She wrote country songs for other artists, including Bill Phillips, Skeeter Davis, and Porter Wagoner. And that early work landed her a featured role on “The Porter Wagoner Show” in 1967. The syndicated television program aired from 1960-81.
Mrs. Parton left that country music show in 1974. Upon leaving, she wrote the No. 1 song “I Will Always Love You” as a farewell tribute to Mr. Wagoner. Her other hits included “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors,” and “9 to 5,” the No. 1 title track to the hit 1980 movie of the same name in which she co-starred with Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dabney Coleman, and Sterling Hayden.
During her career, she collaborated with many other music artists, including Kenny Rogers, Reba McEntire, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, her goddaughter, Miley Cyrus, Beyonce, Sabrina Carpenter, Norah Jones, Elton John, Stevie Nicks, Sting, Pink, Brandi Carlile, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr.
Mrs. Parton released 49 studio albums and wrote more than 3,000 songs. She sold more than 100 million records, making her among the best-selling music artists of all time. At the time of her death, her net worth was estimated to be $450 million to $650 million.
In addition to acting with her “9 to 5” co-stars, she appeared in other movies with Burt Reynolds, Sylvester Stallone, Sally Field, Julia Roberts, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis, Queen Latifah, Alec Baldwin, Jim Nabors, Charles Durning, and Dom DeLuise.
Also, she made more than 400 television appearances. Other than Mr. Wagoner, her TV appearances were with Cher, Mac Davis, Johnny Carson, Tina Turner, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Bette Midler, Merle Haggard, Bruce Willis, Oprah Winfrey, and on “Saturday Night Live.”
Dolly Parton gives the commencement address at a University of Tennessee graduation in 2009, where she was awarded an honorary doctorate of Humane and Musical Letters. (Photo courtesy Knoxville News Sentinel archives)
Mrs. Parton would use her talents to earn 11 Grammy Awards, three Emmy Awards, nominations for two Academy Awards, six Golden Globe awards, and a Tony Award. In addition to “9 to 5,” her acting credits include “Steel Magnolias” and “Coat of Many Colors,” about her life.
She even has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
While her music, acting, and business endeavors are renowned, Mrs. Parton is beloved for her philanthropic work. Her Imagination Library provided free books to any child in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and Ireland from birth to age 5, and she has funded scholarships and education programs.
She also has given millions of dollars for medical research and hospitals. And in 2016 following the wildfires that destroyed parts of Sevier County, she provided monthly financial relief to families who lost homes. She also contributed millions of dollars in 2024 toward recovery efforts following Hurricane Helene, which caused immense destruction in western North Carolina and East Tennessee.
President Donald Trump honored Mrs. Parton on Aug. 25 and ordered that American flags be lowered for one week beginning Aug. 25. And Great Britain’s royal family honored the music legend on Aug. 26 by having the King’s Guard play her famous song “9 to 5” outside of Buckingham Palace during the Changing of the Guard ceremony. The royal family praised Mrs. Parton for her lifetime of music achievement and for giving free books to millions of children through her Imagination Library.
The Grand Ole Opry, where Mrs. Parton first performed as a 13-year-old in 1959, held a sold-out tribute show for her on Aug. 29, and a number of artists performed in memory of her.
Closer to home, Mrs. Parton and East Tennessee Children’s Hospital in Knoxville announced a partnership in March in which the longtime pediatric medical center has been renamed Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital.
And Tennessee’s football team is wearing a helmet sticker this season to honor Mrs. Parton, who has sung “Rocky Top” in Neyland Stadium. The sticker is an orange butterfly in white trim with the word “Dolly” written in cursive. Butterflies have been Mrs. Parton’s signature symbol.
She has received honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Tennessee and Carson-Newman University.
In the days following her death, Nashville International Airport and Gov. Bill Lee announced plans to rename the airport after Mrs. Parton.
A small, private funeral service for Mrs. Parton, attended by immediate family only, was held on Aug. 28 in Nashville, and she was entombed inside a mausoleum in Davidson County’s Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum beside her husband, Carl Dean. Her death occurred only 17 months after her husband of 58 years died in March 2025 at the age of 82.