The legendary Dolly Parton dies at 80 years old

BarcelonaSinger-songwriter Dolly Parton has died this Tuesday at the age of 80. This was announced by her family in a video shared on social media. A country music legend, and one of the most iconic artists of her generation, Parton leaves behind a legacy that includes songs like Jolene and I will always love you. A few days ago, the singer herself explained to People magazine that she had to cancel some concerts due to health problems she had neglected while caring for her husband, Carl Thomas Dean, who died in March 2025 at the age of 82. Unfortunately, she did not make it.

Dolly Parton's artistic magnitude is immense, especially in the United States, where she has been one of the most important figures in country music, a genre whose stylistic coordinates she knew how to adapt to her artistic and political concerns, and always from the perspective of women. Furthermore, she has been a benchmark for both traditional and unorthodox country music. Empathetic by nature, she always stood by the most vulnerable. She promoted literacy programs in depressed areas, created university scholarships, funded NGOs, and during the coronavirus pandemic, she provided economic support for the development of vaccines. Despite being one of the few artists of consensus between the two Americas, she maintained a direct confrontation with Donald Trump, a president who represents the antithesis of the empathetic values that Parton defended.

Born in Sevierville (Tennessee), on January 19, 1946, she grew up in a rather harsh environment, in the Appalachians, a geographical context prone to "damn sad songs" (sad ass songs), as she herself said. Undisputed queen of country, she had a deep knowledge of the tradition and at the same time a great pop intuition. The combination was a winning one, although success was not immediate. Dolly Parton trained with Porter Wagoner, who in 1967 hired her to sing on his television show. Before that, she had already made inroads into Nashville, and had begun to compose with the collaboration of her uncle, Bill Owen, and under the influence of country giants like Hank Williams, as she showed on the album "Hola, sóc Dolly (1967). The alliance with Wagnoner, which lasted until 1974, gave him notoriety and a regular presence on television. Albums like Just because I'm a woman (1968), In the good old days (when times were bad) (1969) and the magnificent Joshua (1971) are part of this first stage of more classic country, but which already offers many details of Dolly Parton's vocal and compositional personality.

In the seventies, as country music was infused with rock and at the same time pursued more commercial formulas to compete precisely with rock and pop, Dolly Parton relied on her point of view: to be herself without giving up the possibility of reaching everyone. On her side was a special sensitivity, like the one she put into play in "Jolene (1973), a song composed and sung from the point of view of the woman who implores her husband's lover to leave him. "I can't compete with you, Jolene (...) / Please don't take him just because you can (...) / You can have your choice", she sang on the same album that included the ballad Lonely comin' down and I will always love you, another of the superhits by the American singer. Two decades later, Whitney Houston covered I will always love you to the movie The bodyguard (1992). It's just a small testament to Dolly Parton's talent as a songwriter.

In the second half of the seventies, the success of the songs transcended country. She herself knew how to read the moment, and accentuated the pop side. Thus arrived Here you come again (1977), a commercial bullseye, like Old flames can't hold a candle to you, a version of a country classic conveniently sweetened that placed at the top of the charts in 1980, in the midst of the disco era. That same year she starred in the film Com eliminar el seu cap (Nine to five), along with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, and the song 9 to 5 became number 1; it was surely the song that most contributed to Dolly Parton's popularity outside the United States.

In the eighties, her discography includes notable interpretive exercises like the album The great pretender (1984), in which she lent her voice to songs by Johnny Cash, Pete Seeger, The Platters, and Jerry Butler, among others. Listening to these songs also reveals the talent of a singer capable of moving without losing her focus. The same applies to The grass is blue (1999) and Little sparrow (2001), bluegrass albums with which she reaffirmed herself as a great voice rooted in rural traditions, and with Halos & horns (2002), with a more folk perfume. It was a way of challenging the malicious stereotype that sought to reduce her to a "Mountain Barbie".

Emerging from the heart of country, Dolly Parton leaves with almost unanimous recognition from different generations and musical sensibilities.