Dolly Parton was hospitalized four days before she passed away at the age of 80.
The country music icon died peacefully on Tuesday in Nashville, Tennessee, according to her publicist. As new details have emerged about her final days, it has become clear that Parton had been quietly battling several medical issues even as she kept reassuring fans she was still working on new projects.
PEOPLE reported that Parton checked into a Nashville hospital on Friday, August 21, though the specific reason was not immediately disclosed. TMZ subsequently reported, citing sources familiar with the situation, that she had been taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for kidney and autoimmune problems. Those conditions have not been officially confirmed as the cause of her passing.
On that very same Friday, Parton released a public statement acknowledging her health struggles. She told PEOPLE that she had been neglecting medical issues while caring for her husband, Carl Dean. Dean, who was married to Parton for nearly six decades, passed away in March 2025.
Over the preceding year, Parton had postponed public appearances and revealed that her physicians had recommended multiple medical procedures. Just earlier in August, she was forced to skip the grand opening of a brand new Dollywood attraction after suffering from dizziness and dehydration. Her doctor told her not to travel, so she addressed the crowd through a prerecorded video instead. She had also previously dealt with kidney stones.
What makes this even more bittersweet is how relentlessly optimistic Parton remained right up until the end. In what turned out to be her final health update, she told fans she was still healing but still grinding. She mentioned having a long list of projects she wanted to finish. That was Dolly Parton in a nutshell. The woman could not be stopped by anything, until something finally did.
Her life story reads like the greatest country song ever written, mostly because she actually wrote several of them. Born in 1946 as one of twelve children in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, she climbed out of deep poverty to become one of the most recognizable entertainers on the planet. Her songbook includes "Jolene," "Coat of Many Colors," "9 to 5," and "I Will Always Love You," which is a résumé that most artists could not touch with a ten foot pole.
Beyond the music, Parton built a philanthropic empire. Her Imagination Library program distributed hundreds of millions of books to children across the globe. She gave away more books than most people will ever read.
Her family has announced that a small private service will be held for immediate relatives only. An official cause of death has still not been disclosed by her family or her publicist.
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