Taylor Swift has published a written tribute to Dolly Parton, saying that a world without Dolly does not feel possible, real, or right. Parton, the American country singer and philanthropist, died on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, at the age of 80.
Swift’s statement came in the hours after Parton’s family announced her death on social media. The death and the reactions that followed were reported in Denmark by Avisen Danmark, which drew on material from the news agency Ritzau and the encyclopedia Britannica.
In the tribute, Swift described Parton as the gift that kept on giving, according to Variety. Swift credited Parton with giving younger artists someone to look up to, while encouraging them to be who they are as individuals.
Swift also praised Parton’s ability to combine grace and grit in one person, Variety reported. As reported by Rolling Stone, Swift closed her message by writing that she would carry Parton in her thoughts every step of the way.
Swift’s tribute highlighted Parton’s charity work, including the millions of books she provided to children around the world. She also thanked Parton for melodies and lyrics that, in Swift’s words, thawed even the coldest hearts, per Variety and Rolling Stone.
The family announcement
The death was announced in a video message posted to Parton’s official social media accounts by her nephew, Bryan Seaver, as transcribed by USA Today. Statements from Parton’s publicist and representatives, quoted by USA Today and CNN, said she died peacefully in Nashville after a brief battle with cancer.
According to those statements, Parton died at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones. Her representatives described her unmatched generosity, pointing to the hundreds of millions of books distributed through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
Parton was born Dolly Rebecca Parton on January 19, 1946, in Locust Ridge, Tennessee, the fourth of 12 children in a poor household. She moved to Nashville in 1964 and released her debut album, Hello, I’m Dolly, in 1967, Avisen Danmark reported.
She wrote more than 3,000 songs and sold over 100 million albums, with signature tracks including 9 to 5 and Jolene. She also wrote I Will Always Love You, recorded by Whitney Houston in 1992 for the film The Bodyguard.
Parton won 11 Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. She was also known for the Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and for donating one million dollars toward coronavirus vaccine research during the pandemic.
Her husband, Carl Dean, whom she met in Nashville in 1964 and married in 1966, died in 2025. Live coverage from AP News and The Guardian placed Swift’s remarks among a wave of tributes from musicians and public figures.
