Dolly Parton’s loved ones reportedly rushed to be with her after her health took an unexpected sharp decline before she died Tuesday.
Although the singer had struggled with health issues in the months before her death, according to TMZ, her passing was sudden and came as an unexpected shock to even those close to her.
According to the outlet, some of her loved ones didn’t make it in time after rushing to Nashville due to hearing she had been hospitalized last week and that her health was declining.
The latest news on music icon Dolly Parton’s death at 80
Parton was hospitalized at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville Friday with kidney and autoimmune issues, and died Tuesday morning, TMZ also reported.
The singer did appear to be in good spirits during her final public appearance, which occurred just days before her death at 80 years old.
The “Jolene” songstress appeared virtually to accept the ACM Poet’s Award at the ACM Honors Aug. 19. It is unclear when she recorded the video message.
“Every dream I ever had, and all the dreams that I’ve been able to see come true in life, well, they all started with a song. Songwriting has been my therapy,” she shared in part. “Songwriting has been my release, my joy. Songwriting has been a gift from God that has allowed me to touch people with words and music.”
In her final interview, published Friday, she told People she was “dealing with some health issues that I just didn’t pay attention to when I was watching over Carl,” referring to her husband Carl Dean, who died in March 2025 at age 82.
Parton also noted, “It’s not like I haven’t been through hard times with my health.”
In her nephew Bryan Seaver’s emotional message on behalf of her family Tuesday, he said she was “in the arms of Jesus” and reunited with Dean, whom she was married to for nearly 60 years.
“Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus,” Seaver said. “Surely met by Carl, her parents, and countless others who have watched her and longed for her to meet them in the heavens.”
On her legacy, he shared, “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. She never saw a door she couldn’t open and the doors she opened made and changed history.”
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