Dolly Parton, the country music icon and philanthropist who died Tuesday, August 25, 2026, at 80, following a brief battle with cancer. She leaves behind a legacy that reaches well beyond Nashville and into the rural hills of San Diego County's backcountry (my home), where her Imagination Library has quietly reshaped early childhood literacy for six years. Parton died surrounded by family in Nashville, according to a family statement, after a brief battle with cancer. She wa