More details have come to light surrounding Dolly Parton's passing.
Reps for the "Jolene" singer—who died at age 80 on Aug. 25, four days after she was hospitalized in Nashville, Tenn.—shared that her cause of death was cancer.
"After bravely facing a brief battle with cancer," her team said in a statement to MS NOW, "Dolly departed her Earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones."
Her reps also reflected on her life and legacy in their statement.
“Our beloved Dolly Parton spent her life and career bringing joy, laughter, hope and integrity into everything she touched," their statement read. "Her unmatched generosity reached the lives of countless people whom she would never meet, yet she was always there to offer a helping hand."
The statement continued, “Whether it be the hundreds of millions of books donated through her invaluable Imagination Library or funding research that helped create a lifesaving vaccine used around the world, Dolly’s unconditional love for all people was the guiding force for her lasting impact."
Her nephew Bryan Seaver shared the devastating news about the death of the country music legend—whose husband of 58 years Carl Dean died in March 2025—while reflecting on her sparkling legacy.
"Dolly opened doors not just for me, but for her entire family to reach the potential we didn't even know was possible," he explained in an Aug. 25 Instagram video. "Dolly also opened doors for generations of singers, songwriters, musicians and dreamers from every walk of life and across every continent."
"By her example, we believed that anything was possible," he added. "She never saw a door she couldn't open, and the doors she opened made and changed history."
Although Parton remained steadfast in her music career—including a cameo on Beyoncé's Grammy-winning 2024 country album Cowboy Carter and her 2026 song "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" with Lainey Wilson, Miley Cyrus, Reba McEntire and Queen Latifah—she had to step away from the stage to focus on her health in recent years.
Parton confirmed she was postponing her Las Vegas residency due to health challenges. As she explained in a September 2025 Instagram video, in which she detailed her hopes to see the project come to light, "I am not going to be able to rehearse and put together the show that I want you to see, and the show that you deserve to see."
Three months later, she skipped her 80th birthday celebration concert in January at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. She did, however, wish her fans the "best night ever" as they came "together again this year to celebrate my big ol' birthday with some of my songs."
The "9 to 5" singer continued to make adjustments to her live appearances, announcing in May that she made the decision to cancel her Vegas residency.
"I'm responding really well to meds and treatments, and I'm improving every day," she explained on Instagram. "The bad news is it's going to take me a little while before I'm up to stage performance level, because some of the meds and treatments make me a little bit swimmy-headed, as my grandma used to say."
The Imagination Library founder had noted that she developed kidney stones, noting that "they dig more stones out of me here than the rock quarry in Rockwood, Tennessee."
The Grammy winner assured fans not to worry, emphasizing that she had received pitch-perfect care during her health battle.
"I have great doctors, and I'm doing really well," she shared, "and they assure me that everything I have is treatable, so I'm going with that."
And Parton appeared to be in good spirits a month later, however, while attending the opening of Dolly's Tennessean Travel Stop, a rest area off the I-65 highway in Cornersville.
(E! and MS NOW are both part of Versant Media.)
For a closer look at Parton's rhinestone-encrusted legacy, keep reading.
1955
1960
1965
Late 1960s
1974
1975
1977
1977
1980
9 to 5
1982
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
1989
1989
Steel Magnolias
1990
1991
1993
1994
1995
1999
1999
2003
2008
2012
2014
2014
2015
2015
2016
2018
2019
2019