Dolly Parton Remembered: Taylor Swift, Reba McEntire, Kacey Musgraves, and More Pay Tribute

Dolly Parton died today at the age of 80. Tributes have already begun to pour in from musicians and celebrities who considered the country legend an idol, a mentor, and, in some cases, a collaborator. “So glad she’s with her Carl Dean,” Kacey Musgraves wrote on X. “No one talk to me today.”

Reba McEntire posted a longer note in honor of her longtime peer in the rhinestone-encrusted country music machine. It reads, in part, “Thank you, Lord, for Dolly. She’s gonna have a blast in heaven singing all her favorite songs with all her family and friends who have gone on before her. I’ll never forget the first time I met you and I’ll never forget our last conversation. I hold it with love in my heart. I will always love you, Reba.”

“Before I met her, I loved her,” added Brandi Carlile. “I loved her because she took a risk and accepted me (and all of us) for being gay in a time where she didn’t need to say anything.”

Taylor Swift said in a statement:

A world without Dolly doesn’t feel possible, real, or right. But because of the eternally generous way she spent her time on this earth and the countless lives she changed for the better, her legacy will be an everlasting one. She was truly the gift that kept on giving. Dolly gave us someone to look up to while encouraging us to be who we are as individuals. Somehow she was able to give us her lessons about the world gently and honestly, simultaneously, and oftentimes hilariously. She managed to give the world the ultimate mystery and fantasy in some corners of her life, but to give full transparency in the ways that counted. Somehow she was true grace and true grit, all in one dazzling person. She possessed the softest heart when it came to the struggles of others, and a backbone of steel to defend her own self worth as an artist. Along with her other fans, I am so grateful for all of it. For the melodies and lyrics she wrote that thawed even the coldest hearts. For the millions of books she provided children all over the world so that they might fall in love with stories the way she did. For the tightropes she walked so that young girls like me could grow up dreaming of joining the circus too. Dolly, I’ll think of you each step of the way.

Beyoncé, Maren Morris, Shania Twain, Sabrina Carpenter, Gillian Welch, Debbie Harry, Joan Armitrading, Lee Ann Womack, Barbra Streisand, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Cat Stevens, Kelly Lee Owens, Low’s Alan Sparhawk, Eminem, Kelly Clarkson, Cat Stevens, and others have also shared messages paying homage to Parton. Her 9 to 5 co-stars, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, also paid tribute.

“It’s hard for me to imagine the world without Dolly,” Cyndi Lauper shared on Instagram. “She was not only a great singer/song writer/actress/TV star, Dolly also lived her art. She used her art, her fame and her money to help so many people. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve thought to myself, ‘What would Dolly do?’ She was a great role model for all of us.”

Paul McCartney described Parton as “so bubbly and full of life it is difficult to take in the news that she has passed,” adding, “[there] was no greater honour for me than to have her sing my song ‘Let It Be’ and, even though I only made a small contribution to it, I am so honoured that she did it.”

“Dolly was a one of a kind, altruistic, down to earth, musical genius,” wrote Joan Jett, who covered her own Blackhearts single “I Hate Myself for Loving You” alongside Parton for Parton’s final studio album, 2023’s Rockstar. “Working with her was one of the highlights of my career.”

Carol Burnett shared a story from taping the 1979 television special Carol & Dolly in Nashville: “We shot the week of Thanksgiving and Dolly made individual turkey dinners for every one of us, that she cooked herself. We were a family. That’s who she was.”

Julia Roberts, Parton’s co-star in 1989’s Steel Magnolias, told Variety in a statement, “Dolly was a magical and joyous human. I hold knowing her as a treasure in my life. The sun has dimmed today.”

“Words fail me today, words to describe the spirit that was Dolly,” Melissa Etheridge wrote. “I will strive the rest of my days to be as joyful and loving as she was. Her talent and gifts she gave us will live on for generations. We are a better world because she walked among us. May she live in the stars of the night and in the light of our days.”

“Dolly Parton had a way of making everyone feel special, and seen, and welcomed, and as if you were old friends,” Kelly Clarkson wrote on Instagram. “I will miss her heart and her voice as I am sure millions will. What an incredible gift and talent she was and still is with an amazing catalogue of art she has left behind for all of us.”

Barbra Streisand shared on Instagram, “So sorry to hear about Dolly - she was a true force of nature. May she rest in peace.”

Dionne Warwick posted, “I will certainly miss her laugher, jokes and her being. Rest well and in total peace my friend. My heart is heavy.”

Broadway star Kristen Chenoweth called Parton her “ultimate inspiration”: “The world has lost one of the best but I know we will never forget her because she is impossible to forget.”

Jack White kept things short and sweet: “Instant Sainthood.” In London, he later performed his cover of “Jolene”—released as a White Stripes B-side back in 2000—and posted footage to Instagram.