And tributes are pouring in from fellow artists, celebrities and public figures.

>>

Our Mark Cot Robus is live in the newsroom now with a look at some of the reaction to Dolly’s pᴀssing.

Mark.

>>

Yeah, David and Jovanna, good afternoon.

We are hearing today from fellow entertainers.

They are shocked, They are heartbroken by the news and the pᴀssing of Dolly Parton.

>>

Uh, I know who I am

And I don’t try to be nobody else.

And if that ain’t good enough for you, too bad, But I can walk in any room knowing I’m going in myself and that’ll have to do.

>>

Just one week after Dolly Parton pᴀssed away, her family held a private, closed funeral.

But what surprised many people was that everything seemed to have been prepared by Dolly years in advance.

She did not want an extravagant funeral.

She simply wanted to wear a modest cotton dress and be buried beside her husband, Carl Dean.

It seemed as though everything had been perfectly arranged, but then a special guest appeared, A name almost no one would have expected to see there.

The moment he walked in and stood before the family to deliver his speech, the atmosphere immediately changed, Because he was not a social acquaintance, nor was he a former colleague.

He was someone who had been close to Dolly for decades, a relationship she had always cherished like family.

What was even more remarkable was that his appearance seemed far from accidental, but connected to a wish Doll Dolly had left behind years earlier.

So who was this uninvited guest really?

Why did Dolly Parton want him there during her final moments, to the point that he was considered part of her inner family?

On August 25, 2026, Dolly Parton took her final breath in Nashville, Tennessee, And, just as she had lived her entire life, even her final moment was not left to chaos.

Dolly had prepared for this day years in advance, From the dress she wanted to wear and the music she wanted to be played to the people she truly wanted by her side.

News of Dolly’s pᴀssing was announced on Tuesday through a video posted to her Instagram account.

The person who appeared was Brian Siver, Dolly’s nephew, the son of her sister, Cᴀssie Parton, who had also been responsible for her security for more than two decades.

Brian’s voice was calm but heavy.

With emotion, On behalf of the Parton and Owens families, he announced the pᴀssing of the woman he affectionately called his aunt Dolly, Rebecca Parton Dean.

He admitted that, although he had imagined how heavy this moment would feel, he only truly understood it when that day arrived.

But there was something special in Brian’s announcement.

He said that the grief belonged to those who remained, not to Dolly.

He believed that she had been welcomed into the arms of Jesus, where Carl, the husband who had stood beside her for 59 years before pᴀssing away in March of the previous year, along with her parents and loved ones, were waiting for her.

To the family, Dolly had not truly disappeared.

She had simply returned to the people she had loved throughout her life.

And perhaps the most touching part was what Brian said afterward.

Dolly had not only opened a door for him personally, but had also helped the entire family see possibilities they had once never believed they could reach.

Within minutes of the announcement of Dolly Parton’s death, the world seemed to erupt.

Social media was flooded with farewells while her name dominated trending topics across numerous countries.

Flowers were placed in front of Dolly’s star on The Hollywood Walk Of Fame before the news had even fully spread At The Grand Old Opry, where she had become a member 55 years earlier.

The atmosphere also fell into silence as people mourned the woman who had devoted most of her life to music.

Even more notably, President Donald Trump was reportedly said to have ordered American flags to be flown at half staff nationwide for one week, beginning at 6:00 pm that day, A week of mourning for a woman who had never run for office, never commanded an army and had never sought political power.

Yet, in her own unique way, Dolly possessed an influence that not even many powerful people could claim.

Because she used that influence to lift others up, Tributes continued to pour in, sending shock waves across social media.

Casey Musgraves was was among the first artists to speak out.

She wrote only a few short but heartbreaking lines.

Dolly, this really really hurts.

She then added: “The world is suddenly less sparkly” And then, like a whisper to the woman who had pᴀssed, “So glad she’s with her, Carl Dean”.

Finally came a sentence that left fans speechless: “Don’t talk to me today”.

Because Carl Dean had only pᴀssed away in March 2025, less than a year and a half before Dolly.

And now the woman who had loved him since she was just 18 years old had also left this world.

The thought of Dolly finally being reunited with the quiet, private man who had stood beside her for nearly six decades moved countless people.

To those who loved Dolly, it seemed that their love story had finally reached its final chapter Only in the most heartbreaking way.

Jane Fonda, Dolly’s co-star in the 1980 film 9 to5, also wrote a lengthy tribute on Instagram.

She admitted that she was devastated by the loss of her friend.

But then Jane said something that left millions of people speechless: Dolly would always live on because she had been so deeply, powerfully, generously and joyfully present that she had become woven into the lives and hearts of everyone who had ever loved her.

This was no long way people spoke about a celebrity.

It was the way people spoke about someone who had become a part of their own lives.

Lily Tomlin, Dolly’s co-star in 9 to5 and a friend of hers for decades, posted only a black and white pH๏τograph accompanied by a few brief words.

There are no words, Yet sometimes a few words like that can be enough to become an entire eulogy.

Reeba Mcintyre also shared an emotional farewell, remembering the love, music and enormous heart Dolly had given to the world.

She wrote that she would never forget the first time she met Dolly, nor the last conversation they had.

And then Reeba concluded with a sentence perhaps no one could disagree with: There will never, ever be another you, Dion Warwick, said she would miss Dolly’s laughter, jokes and simply the person she was before wishing her friend eternal rest.

Sir Paul Mccartney also shared a pH๏τograph of the two of them and recalled meeting Dolly at The Grand Old Opry when she was just beginning her solo career.

He described her as someone full of life, while praising Dolly’s songwriting, singing and Philanthropy as almost unmatched in the world of country music.

And then even a legendary member of the Beatles had to admit It was hard to imagine a world without Dolly Parton.

Boy George, whom Dolly herself had once complimented by saying he dressed better than she did on stage, chose the simplest words of all: I love Dolly, Everybody loves Dolly, And perhaps that statement captured exactly what made Dolly different from almost every other icon.

She was not merely admired.

She was loved From the most famous colleagues to audiences who had never met her in person.

Dolly Parton used her music, generosity and the way she treated people to become part of the world’s shared memory.

Everybody loves Dolly, Not most people, and not just her fans or those who loved country music.

Almost everyone, The Lgbtq plus community, loved Dolly because she never made them feel as though they were outsiders, Conservatives and people of faith.

Loved her because she spoke openly about her own beliefs but never used them to judge or divide others.

Children loved her because she brought books to them.

Parents loved her because they saw what those books could do for their children.

Politicians on both sides expressed affection for Dolly because she always refused to turn herself into a symbol belonging to just one side.

Musicians across every genre loved her because she was always willing to open the door and let others walk through.

Seth Mcfarllain, the creator of Family Guy, a show famous for satarizing almost every living celebrity, could only write that the world had become a darker place without Dolly.

Jaime Lee Curtis called her an extraordinary example for all of us.

Khloe Kardashian even said that she had once believed Dolly was immortal, calling her a one-of-a-kind soul who used her light and compᴀssion to change the world forever.

Look at those names and you will see just how extraordinary it all was.

And now she is gone.

But there is something most of the public may not know.

Dolly had been preparing for her own farewell long before that day actually came.

According to information shared about Dolly’s end of life plans, she had repeatedly updated and refined her wishes over the years, From how she wanted to be remembered, to the songs she wanted to be played at her funeral, to the outfit she wanted to wear, And even with that final detail, Dolly was remarkably specific.

She wanted to be laid to rest in her familiar high heels and a comfortable cotton dress.

She had also chosen where she wanted to return beside Carl Dean, at Woodlon Cemetery And Mausoleum in Nashville.

He was the man Dolly had loved since she was very young, A private man who stayed away from the spotlight and almost never sought public attention.

Carl never tried to become Dolly Parton’s husband in the eyes of the media.

He was simply the man who loved Dolly and the man Dolly deeply loved for nearly six decades.

Carl pᴀssed away in March 2025, at the age of 82, when Dolly died in August 2026..

Approximately 17 months had pᴀssed since she lost her life partner.

Those were 17 months without Carl by her side, 17 months during which the grief and loss were said to have taken a profound toll on her.

Dolly had appeared at the opening of Dollywood’s 2026 season and admitted that she was exhausted from grief.

Yet she still opened the park that March because she had made a promise.

Now, after all those years, Dolly could finally rest, And if her wishes prepared years in advance, were honored, it would be a rest beside the man she had loved for nearly her entire life.

The funeral was planned to be small and private, attended only by the closest members of her family.

No large public memorial service was announced.

Even after her death, Dolly Parton continued thinking about people she had never met.

Her family encouraged fans around the world, instead of sending flowers, to leave tributes on Dolly’s website and donate to The Imagination Library, the program she founded in 1995 that has provided free books to tens of millions of children from birth to age 5 across The United States, Canada, The United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland.

Even when she was no longer here, she was still thinking about children she had never met.

Exactly one week after Dolly Parton’s death, her funeral was held, according to Dolly Parton’s wishes, quietly and privately in Nashville, away from the cameras and crowds.

She had known all her life.

But this is the part you really need to pay attention to, because what happened inside that private ceremony may surprise many people, And let me emphasize this: it was not only the public who was surprised.

According to some reports, even several members of Dolly’s family had not anticipated the list of people she had chosen to be present during those final moments.

Among them was another special connection Dolly had left behind.

And that story brings us to Kenny Rogers.

Dolly had known of Kenny Rogers before the two ever became close.

When Kenny was still performing with the first edition, Dolly had already taken notice of his distinctive voice, But it was not until 1976 that they had the opportunity to meet in person.

When Kenny appeared on Dolly’s television show at the time, no one could have guessed that the man who had just stepped onto that stage would become one of the most special friends of Dolly’s life.

The real turning point came in 1983..

Kenny was recording Islands in the Stream, a song written by Barry Gibb and the members of the Beeges.

But he felt that the song was still missing something.

After several attempts, Barry Gibbs suggested “We need Dolly Parton”.

Ironically, Dolly was in the building at that very moment.

Kenny immediately had someone call her up to the studio.

Dolly walked in, listened to the song and began to sing.

Almost instantly everything changed.

Their two voices blended so naturally that the song went on to become one of the most famous duets in music history.

But what made their story special was not just one hit song.

After Islands in the Stream, Dolly and Kenny began appearing together more often, recording, performing and sharing stages.

For years They continued working on joint project, including the Christmas album Once Upon a Christmas and the song Real Love.

Yet when they were not working together, they still stayed in touch in their own unique way.

Kenny once said that the two of them could go years without seeing each other, But whenever they met again, it felt as though they had just spoken the day before.

“What made their relationship so fascinating and unique was their public, playful flirtation, which was always humorous but never crossed the boundaries of friendship”, Kenny Rogers openly said in an interview with Dan Rather.

We flirted with each other for 30 years, and that was much more fun.

I think once you consummate that relationship, you lose something.

Both of us believed in that theory.

They called it their great flirtation in front of the whole country, But they never took it beyond that line.

Both of them deeply respected each other’s marriages.

Rogers said that he knew Parton’s husband, Carl Dean, and always respected their marriage.

At the same time, he was married to Maryanne Gordon.

Throughout that period, Parton would also often joke that she could not keep up with the number of times Rogers had been married.

They did not want to ruin a beautiful friendship by crossing the line.

Beyond the flirtation, they shared an incredibly close relationship, one that was often compared to that of siblings.

Parton said they had the same sense of humor and often ate and joked together while on tour.

Their shared experience of growing up poor was another bond between them, allowing them to understand and empathize with each other on a deeper level.

The memorable moments in their friendship only further revealed how close their bond truly was.

In 2013,, they released the song You CaN’t Make Old Friends, written specifically as a tribute to their friendship.

Parton once shared that she cried when she heard the demo recording because it felt so true to who they were perfectly capturing the closeness and deep affection between them.

At Roger’s farewell concert Allin For The Gambler in 2017, Parton sang I Will Always Love You as a tribute to her dear friend.

It was also the last time they performed Islands in the Stream together on stage- An emotional moment for both of them and for the audience.

When Kenny Rogers died in 2020, Dolly Parton was devastated, saying it felt like losing a brother and that a piece of my heart had gone with him.

She always held a special place for him in her heart and insisted that they had shared a friendship very few people ever experience.

At Dolly Parton’s private funeral, there was one guest who left many members of the family speechless when they saw him: Christopher Cody Rogers, Kenny Rogers son.

He was not related to the Parton family by blood, but to Dolly.

Christopher had long been regarded as part of Kenny’s family and Kenny had been one of the closest friends of her life.

According to this fictional story, before her death, Dolly had left a brief note among her final instructions.

If possible, invite Christopher.

He needs to be there.

He is Kenny’s family and Kenny was such a huge part of my life.

So when Christopher walked into the ceremony, no one asked whether he was a relative.

Everyone simply quietly made a place for him.

Christopher sat in his back row trying to remain composed as he looked at a pH๏τograph of Dolly smiling.

But when one of Dolly’s songs began to play, he lowered his head, his hands тιԍнтly clasped together.

He knew he was not simply saying goodbye to a music legend.

He was saying goodbye to the woman who had entered his father’s life and remained a part of their family for decades.

After Kenny Rogers died in 2020, Dolly had said that she missed Kenny terribly and that he had always been very special to her.

Kenny’s family now offered Dolly a farewell that was just as special.

They wrote: “It is so painful to put into words what Dolly meant to Kenny and to all of us”.

When it was Christopher’s turn to step up to the podium, he stood silently in front of Dolly’s portrait for quite some time.

“I’ve heard my family talk about her since I was a little boy”, he began.

“But as I grew older, I came to understand that Dolly was never just the person who sang with my father.

She was someone my father truly trusted.

Christopher recalled seeing the two of them backstage laughing together like longtime friends, completely different from the glamorous image the public saw.

They could stand in front of thousands of people and sing as if they were telling a love story, But to us it was always the story of two friends who genuinely cared about each other.

Christopher then mentioned the tribute Kenny’s family had sent to Dolly after her death.

He said there was one line he could not finish reading without crying.

When the two of them sang about finding peace together, about true love between friends who always stood by one another and about how you can’t make old friends, It was as genuine as it could possibly be.

Christopher looked down and said: “That was exactly the Dolly my father knew, and that was also the Dolly we knew”.

He recalled that Dolly had treated him not as the son of a legend, but simply as Christopher.

She never asked me when I was going to become a second Kenny Rogers.

She only asked me whether I was living the life I wanted to live.

According to this fictional story, there was once a time when Christopher was struggling with his career and called Dolly.

He did not say much, only telling her that he felt lost.

Dolly listened and then replied: “You don’t have to know where you’re going tomorrow, Just make sure that today you’re still moving towards something good”.

Christopher said it was simple words like those that stayed with him for years.

Then he spoke about Dolly’s generosity- Not expensive gifts or grand gestures made in front of the public, but the way she quietly helped the people she loved.

“Dolly had something that I think my father saw too”.

Christopher said She never helped people, so they would thank her.

She helped because that’s simply who she was.

This also reflected the genuine tribute from Kenny’s family, who said that Dolly’s compᴀssion, positivity, kindness and extraordinary generosity would continue to live on in her legacy.

Christopher laughed through his tears as he recalled the relationship between his father and Dolly.

My father and she teased each other for years.

There were times when I actually thought the two of them might get married.

The entire room let out a soft laugh.

He continued: “But my father always told me that there are people who come into your life who don’t need to become your romantic partner.

They just need to become someone you know will always be there”.

Christopher paused for a few seconds.

I think Dolly was that person for my father.

Then Christopher took out his phone, opened an old pH๏τo of Kenny and Dolly and held it up on the screen.

The two of them were laughing together on stage.

“This is what my family wants people to remember”.

He said: “Not how famous they were, not how many records they sold, but how they made each other laugh for more than 40 years”.

He mentioned Islands in the stream, Real Love and especially You Can’t Make Old Friends, a song whose тιтle seemed almost prophetic about their own friendship.

After Dolly’s pᴀssing, Kenny’s family also emphasized that those songs reflected what the two of them truly felt for each other.

Then Christopher said the words that brought the entire room to tears.

My father went before her by six years, And I think that during those six years Dolly always carried a part of his memory with her.

Today, I want to believe that she no longer has to remember my father.

She has been reunited with him.

He wiped away his tears and looked up at Dolly’s portrait.

My family wrote that Dolly traded her ʙuттerfly wings for angel wings.

I think my father is standing somewhere smiling because at last his old friend has arrived at the place where they can meet again.

Kenny’s family truly did use the image of Dolly trading her ʙuттerfly wings for angel wings in their farewell tribute to her.

Before leaving the stage, Christopher bowed his head for a long moment and then said: “Dolly, thank, thank you for loving my father, Thank you for standing by him through all those years when the whole world only saw the stage lights, And thank you for keeping the Rogers family in your heart.

Even after my father was gone, His voice broke.

If there is one thing I want to say on my father’s behalf today, it is this: Dolly, you did so well.

You made this life so much more beautiful.

Christopher walked off the stage in tears.

No one applauded immediately.

A few seconds later, a slow round of applause began from the front row and gradually spread throughout the room.

On the screen behind Dolly’s portrait appeared an image of her standing beside Kenny Rogers, both of them smiling You can’t make old friends- began to play.

And in this fictional story, Christopher simply stood there watching the two of them on the screen and smiling through his tears.

Because, in the end, the most beautiful tribute Kenny’s family could give Dolly was not to call her by a тιтle or recount her achievements.

It was to acknowledge one simple truth: Dolly had once been Kenny’s friend, But after more than four decades she had also become family to all of them.

After Christopher stepped down, another appearance left the entire room almost completely silent.

Miley Cyrus, Think about that.

This was a funeral closed off from the outside world.

Not every fan could enter.

Many artists who had once shared the stage with Dolly were not there, And even the famous friends who had accompanied her throughout her life had to remain outside.

But Miley was there, Not because she was a star and certainly not because of the times the two had collaborated.

She was there because, to Dolly, Miley had long since ceased to be just a name on a guest list.

She was family.

That only truly makes sense when you look back at their relationship.

Most people know that Dolly was Miley Cyrus’s godmother, but it was never merely a тιтle.

In 1992, when Billy Ray Cyrus was touring with Dolly to promote Achy Breaky Heart, the two became close.

When he learned that his wife was about to give birth to a baby girl, Billy Ray asked Dolly to become her godmother.

Dolly agreed almost immediately, And from that moment on Miley entered her life in a very special way.

Dolly once said that she loved Miley like her own child.

For a woman who never had children of her own, those words carried even greater weight.

Dolly did not simply stand by Miley when she was still a little girl.

She also watched her grow up, enter the entertainment industry, go through changes and search for her own path.

Miley, too, never referred to Dolly simply as her godmother.

She repeatedly said that Dolly was like a mother in her life.

That bond even had another surprising twist.

In 2024, genealogical information reportedly showed that Dolly and Miley shared a distant common ancestor, making them seventh cousins.

When she learned about it, Dolly laughed and said she had always felt that the two of them must have some kind of blood connection.

As it turned out, they really were family, just in a way no one had expected.

Miley once recalled that Dolly would often send her faxes, little messages filled with affection.

On one occasion, Dolly wrote that her love for Miley was so great that her heart could hold it and her arms could reach far enough to embrace it.

Miley said that whenever she reread those words, she was still deeply moved, And perhaps that is why their relationship never existed.

Only after the stage lights came on, They sang together, appeared on television together and stood side by side in front of millions of viewers.

Many times In 2023, Miley lent her voice to Wrecking.

Wrecking Ball on Dolly’s Rockstar album.

A song that had once been one of Miley’s defining hits was now performed alongside the woman she called Aunt Dolly.

But the most important thing was not how many projects they created together.

It was that after every light went out, they were still simply Dolly and Miley, a godmother and the daughter she had always loved.

That is why, when Dolly pᴀssed away, Miley did not speak like a colleague who had just lost a legend.

She spoke like a daughter who had just lost a mother.

In her tribute, Miley called Dolly one of the purest souls she had ever known and admitted that her heart was broken.

She wrote that Dolly had transcended the boundaries of time and would live forever in the hearts of generations.