Taylor Swift joined the chorus of stars honoring the late Dolly Parton when she released a statement on Tuesday night.
The 36-year-old pop superstar bid farewell to Parton – who died earlier in the day at a medical center in Nashville at the age of 80 – in a statement shared with the Daily Mail.
‘A world without Dolly doesn’t feel possible, real, or right,’ said Swift, who began her career in country music before conquering pop music. ‘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,’ Swift continued. ‘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,’ she added. ‘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.’
Swift concluded her statement with an expression of gratitude for the late country music icon.
Swift pays heartfelt tribute to Dolly
‘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,’ she wrote. ‘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.’
The legendary country singer’s passing was confirmed Tuesday in an Instagram video posted by her nephew Bryan Seaver.
Later on Tuesday, Parton’s representatives revealed that the singer had died following a ‘brief battle with cancer’ in a statement to People, though it did not specify which type of cancer she had been dealing with.
‘Our beloved Dolly Parton spent her life and career bringing joy, laughter, hope and integrity into everything she touched,’ the statement read.
‘After bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her Earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones.’
Swift had been a supporter of Parton’s charitable efforts, and she and her husband Travis Kelce included the country icon’s Imagination Library among the charities they donated an astounding $26 million to shortly before they tied the knot at Madison Square Garden in New York City in July.
Swift and Kelce donated two million dollars to Parton’s Imagination Library, a book giveaway program founded over 30 years ago with the goal of ‘fostering a love of reading’ for children around the world.
In a video post shared to X after the donation was made, Parton thanked the couple and said she was ‘overjoyed’ by their generosity.
Dolly joked about couple’s future baby
‘Taylor and Travis, it’s Dolly,’ she began. ‘I was just told that you two are making a donation of two million dollars to my Imagination Library. Thank you, thank you, thank you!’
‘I’m blown away and overjoyed with that gratitude. Now it’s evident that you two have made giving back a key part of your lives,’ Parton continued.
She went on to ask the soon-to-be-married couple about their plans for starting a family.
Parton joked: ‘So, hey, when you have your firstborn, can I have it? Because that is gonna be one special baby!’
She continued: ‘You know the mission of the Dollywood Foundation is to, “Dream More, Care More, Learn More and Be More.”
‘And thank you again for your very generous gift, and we’ll continue that mission even in bigger ways now with your money,’ Parton added. ‘So thank you, and know that I will always love you,’ she added.
The news of Parton’s death prompted an outpouring of love from America’s A-list.
Beyonce, Sabrina Carpenter and Parton’s former costar, Jane Fonda, were among the numerous A-listers who joined Swift in honoring Parton.
Swift hailed Dolly as ‘storyteller for the ages’
Back in 2023, Swift had sung Parton’s praises in a 2023 profile of the Jolene singer in The Hollywood Reporter.
‘Dolly is a force of evolution and transformation in our industry, but she does it with such playful levity it almost looks effortless,’ Swift said at the time. ‘Her sense of humor and mischief are easily my favorite things about her, because I think it forces the world to reconcile that a woman can be a serious artist and writer who also has raucous fun with it, can make people laugh and be in on every joke.
‘She’s never stopped challenging herself to clear new hurdles and explore new territory artistically, and I think that speaks to her great curiosity about the human condition,’ Swift added. ‘She’s a legendary empath and the storyteller for the ages. She’s also having the most fun doing it.’
Even President Donald Trump shared a statement paying tribute to Parton on Truth Social.
‘Very sad to report that Dolly Parton, one of the greatest Country singers, and far beyond, EVER, has just passed away,’ the President wrote on Truth Social.
Trump called her death a profound loss for millions, and announced that flags would be lowered beginning Tuesday evening.
‘There has never been anyone like her, and never will,’ the President added. ‘Rest in Peace, Dolly! The World loves you.’
Trump had previously been complimentary toward Parton, and during his first administration she was twice offered the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Beyoncé pays powerful tribute to Dolly
However, she initially turned down the honor because her late husband Carl Dean, who died in March 2025 at 82, had been ill, and she refused the honor a second time because she did not want to travel at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
Paul McCartney, Shania Twain, Jamie Lee Curtis, Oprah, Sarah Jessica Parker, Pedro Pascal, Khloe Kardashian, Paris Hilton, Reba McEntire, Zoe Saldana and Hugh Jackman also took to social media to express their shock and sadness over Parton’s death.
The music icon also counted admirers outside of Hollywood, with politicians and media heavyweights also sharing their condolences.
Beyonce paid tribute to Parton with a message shared on her website.
‘Dolly, you were the barometer. The north star. Bold and brilliant. Talented and tenacious,’ Beyonce wrote in an outpouring of compliments. ‘You taught so many lessons on how to be uniquely oneself.
‘I am grateful for your art, your heart, your generosity, your humor, your entrepreneurship,’ the hitmaker continued, before referencing her collaboration with Parton on Cowboy Carter. ‘I’m honored that I had the privilege to work with you. I will treasure that forever.
‘Thank you for your profound impact on the world,’ Beyonce wrote as she concluded her tribute. ‘You are an angel who has made this world a happier place because of your joyful art. You are truly one of one. Rest peacefully.’
Sabrina Carpenter mourns her ‘angel’ Dolly
Carpenter remembered Parton by sharing photos from their collaboration on the video to a remix of her song Please Please Please, which featured the country music icon.
‘oh dolly [broken-heart emoji] the only thing i could say after we first met was “she really is an angel walking the earth” and “we look like we could be sisters!”’ Carpenter, who bonded with Parton over their mutual height of just five feet, gushed in her caption.
‘i will cherish our laughter and conversations and i will keep your wisdom, your playful outlook on life, and perfect sense of humor in my pocket for the rainy days,’ she continued. ‘there will never be another you and how lucky are we all to have experienced your singular magic as well as your once in a lifetime voice, songs, and heart.
‘your light will be something the world will search forever to find again,’ Carpenter added, before a final message that quoted the refrain of one of Parton’s most famous songs: ‘i will always love you.’
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