Dolly Parton died Tuesday, August 25, in Nashville. She was 80. Her representatives confirmed the news, as did a video posted by her nephew Bryan Seaver. The family said she went peacefully.
There is no good way to write this sentence, so here it is: one of the most beloved women in popular music is gone.
She was very clear that the wigs and the heels and the tight sequinned everything came from a real place: a woman back home who wore too much makeup and looked, to a small girl, like the most glamorous creature on earth. Dolly built her entire public self on that memory and then defended it with jokes so good you forgot they were also a defense.
“It takes all I make to keep up my appearance.”
She said versions of that for fifty years, to arenas, on talk shows, in her own theme park. The bit worked because she was the one telling it. Nobody ever got to make that joke first. RIP to one of the greatest of all time!
This one hurts. She had that rare gift to make a person feel seen. As a gay man, that being seen and accepted was something that meant a great deal more to our community than anyone outside of it could understand. Dolly, Liza, Judy, etc. They mean something to us, because we meant something to them.
Some of the heart, light, grace, and magic has gone out of the world with her passing.
“I think everybody should be allowed to be who they are, and to love who they love.” – Dolly Parton