Fonda posted a longer tribute, saying she was “devastated” and had never known anyone like Parton.
“She was simultaneously a naughty, playful southern gal from the hollows of Tennessee and a deep, soulful thinker who could see through people right down to their true selves,” Fonda wrote.
She described Parton as a lyricist, singer, multi-instrumentalist, writer, prankster, visionary and loyal friend. The list was extensive, but in this case not especially inflated. Parton sold more than 100 million recordings worldwide, while her music generated more than 1 billion streams, according to the Associated Press.
Where did Dolly Parton die?
The Associated Press and CBS News reported that Parton died at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, surrounded by loved ones. That account conflicts with an earlier Gray News report saying she died at home. The hospital account has stronger corroboration from national reporting.
Her nephew and head of security, Bryan Seaver, announced the death in an emotional video. He said Parton had been reunited in heaven with Carl Dean, her husband of nearly 60 years, who died before her.
“Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus,” Seaver said. “Surely met by Carl, her parents, and countless others who have watched her and longed for her to meet them in the heavens.”
Parton’s representatives said she had requested a small, private funeral for immediate family. TMZ reported that she would be buried beside Dean at Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Nashville, but no authoritative source had confirmed that detail.
President Donald Trump ordered flags at federal buildings, military installations and United States diplomatic facilities lowered through sunset on September 1.
How large was Parton’s literacy legacy?
Parton’s official website asked mourners to donate to the Imagination Library instead of sending flowers. Founded in 1995, the program was inspired by her father, Robert Lee Parton, who could not read or write.
The initiative mails free books to children from birth through age 5. It has distributed more than 300 million books, turning a personal family experience into one of the world’s most visible early-literacy programs. Plenty of celebrities create charitable foundations. Far fewer can point to hundreds of millions of books arriving in children’s homes.
Public tributes reflected that broader record. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani called Parton “an irreplaceable champion of the working class.” Taylor Swift said she embodied “true grace and true grit,” while Paul McCartney described her songwriting, singing and philanthropy as “unrivaled.” GLAAD President and Chief Executive Sarah Kate Ellis called her “the queen of inclusivity and philanthropy.”
Fans also left flowers at Parton’s statue in her hometown of Sevierville, Tennessee, as well as at Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame and her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
What happens to Dolly Parton’s Broadway musical?
Parton’s work will continue on Broadway. Producers told the Associated Press that Dolly: A True Original Musical will begin previews at the St. James Theatre on December 7, in accordance with her wishes.
The production is especially personal because Parton wrote the musical about her own life. Its continuation gives audiences another version of her story, this time shaped by Parton herself rather than assembled after her death by people with access to an archive and a dramatic lighting budget.
The Broadway plans, the Imagination Library donations and the pink Manhattan skyline all point to the same conclusion without requiring one more grand speech. Parton’s public life stretched well beyond country music, and the projects she built were designed to continue after the applause stopped.
