Country music legend Dolly Parton has died at the age of 80, her family has announced. In a video posted to Parton’s X account 15 minutes ago, her nephew Bryan Seaver announced the death of his aunt, for whom he acted as head of security. This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality.
As her head of security for more than two decades, a role my father, Larry, held before me. I have imagined the heaviness of this moment but haven’t truly felt it until now. It is an honor, an honor that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness.
But sadness lies with us, not with Dolly. Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by Carl, her parents, and countless others who have watched her and longed for her to meet them in the heavens. I first went on the road with Dolly as a kid, getting a taste of the road life in the early 1980s.
Dolly opened doors not just for me, but for her entire family to reach the potential we didn’t even know was possible. 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.
She never saw a door she couldn’t open, and the doors she opened made and changed history. My family and I have shared a lifetime of beautiful memories with Dolly, but so have you. She has always been on your television, your record player, your CD, and on your phone playlist becoming an extended part of your family, whether you liked it or not.
Our family and the team she has entrusted with her legacy will work diligently to ensure her spirit will live with us for ever. Dolly was a farmer, just like her daddy. He farmed the soil; she farmed songs and happiness.
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