Country music legend Dolly Parton is dead at the age of 80.
She died after a brief battle with cancer. The type of cancer was not disclosed by her family in the statement. Her family said she died peacefully at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville surrounded by loved ones.
Parton became one of the defining voices in country music after rising from humble beginnings in rural Tennessee. She racked up eleven Grammy Awards and sold more than 100-million records worldwide over the course of her six-decade career.
As many reflect on her unique and lasting legacy, Dolly is being remembered. In fact, the country music superstar was so beloved by so many that she was named “America’s Most Popular Person” earlier this year. A University of Massachusetts/YouGov poll from the spring ranked Parton as the most beloved figure in the entire nation.
Other favorable public figures included former president Barack Obama and Taylor Swift, but Parton still came in 50 points higher than Obama and 62 points higher than Swift.
Around the nation, flags will be lowered as President Trump issued the following order:
As a mark of respect for the memory of Dolly Parton, I hereby order, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, September 1, 2026. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half‑staff for the same period at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifty-first.
DONALD J. TRUMP
