Country music queen Dolly Parton dies at 80; Trump orders flags at half-staff for one week

Original “The Bodyguard” singer Dolly Parton dies; Trump orders flags at half-staff for one week

A legend who wrote 3,000 songs and sold 100 million records; family asks mourners to donate to charity instead of sending flowers

Dolly Parton, the enduring symbol of American country music who reigned as the “Queen of Country”, died at 80 on the 25th, local time.

A towering figure in American music closes the book on 80 brilliant years

Her nephew, Brian Seaver, announced the news on social media, saying, “Dolly lived her entire life in the light, and now she has found eternal rest.” She had canceled a Las Vegas residency last year as her health deteriorated and had battled immune-system and digestive disorders until recently. Her condition appeared to improve around May, but she ultimately died peacefully in Nashville, Tennessee, her home state.

A legacy of 3,000 songs and 100 million records sold

Born in 1946 to a poor farming family in Tennessee, one of 12 children, Dolly Parton won support across generations and political divides as a singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Her 1973 release “Jolene” stormed the pop charts and cemented her mainstream popularity. The following year, she won the Country Music Association’s Female Vocalist of the Year award for two consecutive years with her self-written song “I Will Always Love You”. Whitney Houston’s 1992 rendition in the film “The Bodyguard” turned the song into a global megahit that went down in music history.

Her discography, built over a lifetime of creating more than 3,000 songs, surpassed “100 million records” in cumulative worldwide sales. She won 11 Grammy Awards and was inducted into the “Rock & Roll Hall of Fame” in 2022, cementing her status as a living legend.

Voice of working people, a “positive influence” who changed the world

Her impact extended far beyond the music industry. Through the nonprofit “Imagination Library”, which she founded for children in Tennessee, she distributed more than 300 million books free of charge to preschoolers around the world. Early in the coronavirus pandemic, she also donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University, becoming a key supporter of Moderna’s vaccine development. Reuters called her “a steadfast symbol of America’s working class” and praised the way she freely gave back her fame and fortune in service of her convictions.

Nation mourns as Trump calls her “one of a kind, never to be seen again”

The United States was engulfed in grief after the music legend’s death. President Donald Trump said, “There has never been anyone like her in the past, and there never will be again,” and issued a special order to fly flags at half-staff nationwide for “one week” starting at 6 p.m. that day in her memory. The New York Times called her “the most beloved American of the 20th century,” while The Washington Post also revisited her enormous impact across society. In accordance with the family’s wishes, the funeral will be private and attended only by immediate family members. The family asked mourners to honor Parton’s noble legacy by donating to the “Imagination Library” instead of sending floral arrangements.