Dolly Parton, one of the most groundbreaking and successful musicians in the history of country music, with a hitmaking career that spanned six decades and launched her into TV and movie stardom, has died, her family announced Tuesday.She was 80.Parton's nephew Bryan Seaver, who was his aunt's head of security, announced her death in a prerecorded video posted to social media."It is an honor, an honor that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness, but sadness lies with us, not with Dolly," he said.
"Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus."Since breaking onto the country music scene with her 1967 debut "Hello, I'm Dolly," Parton never seemed to slow down, releasing nearly 50 studio albums and selling over 100 million records.A prolific songwriter, she won 10 Grammys and earned 55 nominations.But she treated her success with a certain modesty.
In 2022, when she was nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, she tried to pull herself out of the running, saying she didn't feel that she had "earned that right." Her peers and fans vehemently disagreed.In a 2022 interview on "CBS Mornings," she called it "an honor" to have so many loyal fans, but added that "it scares me to death sometimes.I'm always sayin' I'm not all that, I'm even not all there sometimes." Born on Jan.
19, 1946, Parton grew up in poverty in rural Tennessee, the fourth of 12 children."Well, what they call 'white trash,' I don't like anybody else calling me that, but to be called a hillbilly, I always take pride in that," she told CBS News in a 2016 interview.She began songwriting at a young age and got her break in 1966 when she moved to Nashville and was given a spot on country singer Porter Wagoner's variety show, which she kept for seven years.She explained that she honed her distinctive look and style from a woman she knew who she described as a "town tramp" — upending expectations of how she should look and dress. "And she wore the mak...