Dolly Parton died today at the age of 80. Tributes have already begun to pour in from musicians and celebrities who considered the country legend an idol, a mentor, and, in some cases, a collaborator. “So glad she’s with her Carl Dean,” Kacey Musgraves wrote on X. “No one talk to me today.”
Reba McEntire posted a longer note in honor of her longtime peer in the rhinestone-encrusted country music machine. It reads, in part, “Thank you, Lord, for Dolly. She’s gonna have a blast in heaven singing all her favorite songs with all her family and friends who have gone on before her. I’ll never forget the first time I met you and I’ll never forget our last conversation. I hold it with love in my heart. I will always love you, Reba.”
“Before I met her, I loved her,” added Brandi Carlile. “I loved her because she took a risk and accepted me (and all of us) for being gay in a time where she didn’t need to say anything.”
Beyoncé, Maren Morris, Shania Twain, Sabrina Carpenter, Gillian Welch, Debbie Harry, Joan Armitrading, Lee Ann Womack, Barbra Streisand, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Cat Stevens, Kelly Lee Owens, Low’s Alan Sparhawk, Eminem, Kelly Clarkson, and others have also shared messages paying homage to Parton. Her 9 to 5 co-stars, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, also paid tribute.
“It’s hard for me to imagine the world without Dolly,” Cyndi Lauper shared on Instagram. “She was not only a great singer/song writer/actress/TV star, Dolly also lived her art. She used her art, her fame and her money to help so many people. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve thought to myself, ‘What would Dolly do?’ She was a great role model for all of us.”
Paul McCartney described Parton as “so bubbly and full of life it is difficult to take in the news that she has passed,” adding, “[there] was no greater honour for me than to have her sing my song ‘Let It Be’ and, even though I only made a small contribution to it, I am so honoured that she did it.”
“Dolly was a one of a kind, altruistic, down to earth, musical genius,” wrote Joan Jett, who covered her own Blackhearts single “I Hate Myself for Loving You” alongside Parton for Parton’s final studio album, 2023’s Rockstar. “Working with her was one of the highlights of my career.”
Carol Burnett shared a story from taping the 1979 television special Carol & Dolly in Nashville: “We shot the week of Thanksgiving and Dolly made individual turkey dinners for every one of us, that she cooked herself. We were a family. That’s who she was.”
Julia Roberts, Parton’s co-star in 1989’s Steel Magnolias, told Variety in a statement, “Dolly was a magical and joyous human. I hold knowing her as a treasure in my life. The sun has dimmed today.”
“Words fail me today, words to describe the spirit that was Dolly,” Melissa Etheridge wrote. “I will strive the rest of my days to be as joyful and loving as she was. Her talent and gifts she gave us will live on for generations. We are a better world because she walked among us. May she live in the stars of the night and in the light of our days.”
