Dolly Parton's Cause of Death Revealed

Her nephew Bryan Seaver shared the devastating news about the death of the country music legend—whose husband of 58 years Carl Dean died in March 2025—while reflecting on her sparkling legacy.

"Dolly opened doors not just for me, but for her entire family to reach the potential we didn't even know was possible," he explained in an Aug. 25 Instagram video. "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," he added. "She never saw a door she couldn't open, and the doors she opened made and changed history."

Although Parton remained steadfast in her music career—including a cameo on Beyoncé's Grammy-winning 2024 country album Cowboy Carter and her 2026 song "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" with Lainey Wilson, Miley Cyrus, Reba McEntire and Queen Latifah—she had to step away from the stage to focus on her health in recent years.

Parton confirmed she was postponing her Las Vegas residency due to health challenges. As she explained in a September 2025 Instagram video, in which she detailed her hopes to see the project come to light, "I am not going to be able to rehearse and put together the show that I want you to see, and the show that you deserve to see."

Three months later, she skipped her 80th birthday celebration concert in January at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. She did, however, wish her fans the "best night ever" as they came "together again this year to celebrate my big ol' birthday with some of my songs."

The "9 to 5" singer continued to make adjustments to her live appearances, announcing in May that she made the decision to cancel her Vegas residency.

"I'm responding really well to meds and treatments, and I'm improving every day," she explained on Instagram. "The bad news is it's going to take me a little while before I'm up to stage performance level, because some of the meds and treatments make me a little bit swimmy-headed, as my grandma used to say."

The Imagination Library founder had noted that she developed kidney stones, noting that "they dig more stones out of me here than the rock quarry in Rockwood, Tennessee."

The Grammy winner assured fans not to worry, emphasizing that she had received pitch-perfect care during her health battle.

"I have great doctors, and I'm doing really well," she shared, "and they assure me that everything I have is treatable, so I'm going with that."

And Parton appeared to be in good spirits a month later, however, while attending the opening of Dolly's Tennessean Travel Stop, a rest area off the I-65 highway in Cornersville.

(E! and MS NOW are both part of Versant Media.)

For a closer look at Parton's rhinestone-encrusted legacy, keep reading.