By Lucas Dewar
Aug. 25, 2026 looked different for everyone. For me, it was a beautiful summer day during the “Explore the Coast” New Student Trip in the middle of the woods. Sunbeams filtered through the conifer canopies above me and settled on the soil and through the windows onto our cabin tile. Tranquil chatter filled the air, with most of the group detoxing from the internet, blissfully unaware of the tragedy that had struck the nation.
Then, the peace was disturbed. One of our trip leaders, who still had internet access, announced that Dolly Parton had died at 80 from cancer.
Despite being disconnected with country music in general, being in the middle of the woods and being isolated from the online world, our group still felt the torrential waves of heartbreak ricocheting around the world.
Parton’s legacy transcends her music, but that does not mean her music is to be understated. Across her seven-decade music career, she released over 40 albums and won 11 Grammy awards — alongside 54 nominations. Lyrical prowess, heartfelt vocals and iconic backing tracks spanning multiple genres rightfully placed Parton’s name and face in the Country Hall of Fame, Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Her musical momentum pushed her into Hollywood films and TV shows. Parton charmed audiences from the 1980s to the 2010s in comedies, dramas and romances. Her work has also continued onstage after her death. “Dolly: A True Original Musical” will debut on Jan. 19, 2027, the day which would have been her 81st birthday. Parton’s music, choreography and storytelling accompanied seemingly reality-defying acrobatics, literal horseplay, pyrotechnics and lagoon fights in Dolly Parton’s Stampede and Pirates Voyage. These shows have entertained visitors in Tennessee and Missouri from the 1990s to present day.
Nonetheless, storytelling does not require a stage nor elaborate equipment to demand an audience’s attention. In fact, one of Parton’s most famous songs, “A Coat of Many Colors,” was penned on cleaning bag tickets during a bus ride. Audiences absorb stories through multiple lenses — aurally, visually and textually — but being able to read stories was particularly important to Parton. Born in the 1940s, Parton grew up in a family where her father never had the opportunity to learn to read.
“He was the smartest man I have ever known but I know in my heart his inability to read probably kept him from fulfilling all of his dreams,” Parton said.
In tribute to him, Parton launched the Imagination Library, a non-profit organization that distributes free books to children until their fifth birthday. The Imagination Library’s reach has expanded from Parton’s home county in East Tennessee to encompass the rest of the nation, as well as regions of Australia, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Over 330 million books have been gifted through the Imagination Library since its inception in 1996, helping to promote literacy internationally.
Parton’s philanthropy did not end at promoting childhood literacy. Monetary aid was given and facilitated by Parton for causes both local and global. She founded multiple scholarships for students from her East Tennessean home, Sevier County, starting with personally promising middle school students $500 if they helped a “buddy” graduate high school in the early 1990s. Since the original $500 checks that Parton directly handed to students, the Dolly Foundation has given thousands in financial aid to Tennesseans. Additionally, The Dolly Foundation has raised millions of dollars to provide immediate relief and longer-term support to Tennessean families through wildfires, floods and a hurricane. When the world reeled from the COVID pandemic, Parton contributed one million dollars to Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s vaccine research funding, supporting research that contributed to the development of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
Parton’s generosity has touched most corners of the world, one way or another. Wit and kindness rippled off of her, impacting fathomless numbers of strangers for the better and arguably shaping American culture at large. In some ways, this is how Parton wanted to be remembered. In 1978, years before she achieved many of the accomplishments and milestones covered in this article.
“I don’t want a tombstone. I want to live forever. They say a dreamer lives forever … I want to be more than just an ordinary star. I want to be a famous writer, a famous singer, a famous entertainer; I want to be a movie writer; I want to do music movies, do children’s stories; I want to be somebody important in time; I want to be somebody that left somethin’ good behind for everybody else to enjoy,”she confessed to Playboy Magazine.
More than four decades later, it is difficult to imagine a more fitting epitaph. Parton wanted to leave something good behind. She left lots of good things behind — in songs, films, books and, perhaps most importantly, in the lives of people who never met her.
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