Dolly Parton Dies at 80: America's Got Talent Pays Tribute on Live Broadcast
Dolly Parton, the 11-time Grammy winner whose voice and songwriting shaped country music for six decades, has died at the age of 80. Her family announced the news on August 25, 2026, in a video statement delivered by her nephew, Brian Seaver, posted to her official X account WSMV. Her team said she had faced a brief battle with cancer NBC News.
Less than 24 hours later, the Tuesday live quarterfinal episode of NBC's America's Got Talent opened with host Terry Crews paying tribute. He called Parton "the Queen of Country" and "the ultimate talent" during a transition early in the broadcast, and the show closed its night with a special tribute card in her honour Deadline. NBC also planned a dedicated programme, Dolly: An NBC News Special, to commemorate her life and career, scheduled for Wednesday at 9 PM. ABC and CBS were airing Parton specials on Tuesday night as well.
Born on January 19, 1946, in Sevier County, Tennessee, Parton grew up as one of twelve children in a one-bedroom home in the Smoky Mountains. She began writing songs at age five — her first was about a corncob doll she called "Little Tiny Tasseltop." Her uncle Bill Owens, an accredited songwriter, encouraged her early, and by thirteen she had debuted on the Grand Ole Opry stage dollyparton.com.
She signed her first record deal with Monument Records in 1965 and released her debut studio album, Hello, I'm Dolly. In 1967 she joined The Porter Wagoner Show, a pairing that brought her to a national television audience. She became a Grand Ole Opry member in 1969 and earned her first number-one single, "Joshua," in 1971.
Parton met her husband, Carl Dean, on her first day in Nashville. They married in 1966 in Ringgold, Georgia, in a private ceremony and remained together until Dean's death on March 3, 2025, at the age of 82 dollyparton.com. Her youngest brother, Randy Parton, died in January 2021 at 67 dollyparton.com.
Her television work extended well beyond music. She narrated and executive produced the 2015 TV movie Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors and its 2016 sequel, Circle of Love. In 2022, she co-hosted NBC's live New Year's Eve special with her goddaughter, Miley Cyrus Deadline. Her official website now carries a tribute page titled "Remembering Dolly Parton," dated January 19, 1946 – August 25, 2026 dollyparton.com.
For a performer who filled arenas and built an empire that spanned music, film, publishing, and philanthropy, the tributes came from every direction. Three broadcast networks programmed Parton specials within a day of her death, a measure of how deeply her work reached across American television.
