Dolly Parton had been battling cancer before her death at age 80, her representatives confirmed on Aug. 25.
The country music icon died at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville after being hospitalized there on Aug. 21. Parton's representatives described her illness as a brief battle with cancer but did not disclose what type she had.
The diagnosis was not publicly known before her death.
Parton's death was announced on Aug. 25 by her nephew Bryan Seaver on social media, who spoke on behalf of the family. Seaver, the son of Parton's sister Cassie, had also served as his aunt's head of security for more than two decades.
The cancer diagnosis provides new context to a series of health concerns that had caused Parton to pull back from some public
appearances over the past year.
In September 2025, Parton postponed a planned Las Vegas residency, saying she needed to undergo several medical procedures. The six concerts, originally scheduled for December 2025, were moved to September 2026.
Parton did not disclose the nature of those procedures at the time.
She continued working through her health issues, although her public appearances became less frequent.
Parton made what would become her final public appearance on June 20 at the opening of Dolly's Tennessean Travel Stop in Cornersville, Tenn.
Her health challenges followed the March 2025 death of her husband, Carl Dean, after 58 years of marriage.
Even as she scaled back appearances, Parton remained involved in several projects. They included "Dolly: An Original Musical," a planned Nashville hotel and museum, plus a new book. She had also launched an educational partnership with Belmont University.
Parton's career stretched across nearly seven decades and included some of country music's most enduring songs, among them "Jolene," "Coat of Many Colors," "9 to 5" and "I Will Always Love You." She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Her influence also extended far beyond music. Parton's philanthropy supported education, disaster relief, medical research and other causes. Her Imagination Library, created in honor of her father, had distributed 270 million books to children by 2025.
Bryan West is a music reporter at The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Instagram, TikTok and X as @BryanWestTV.
Contributing: Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY; Keith Sharon, The Tennessean
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Dolly Parton's team confirms she had cancer before her death at 80
