Musicians and performers pay tribute to the country legend who managed to be a generational talent, a formidable entrepreneur, a dedicated philanthropist and a truly kind person

Shirley Collins, singer-songwriter

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© Photograph: Richard E Aaron/Redferns

© Photograph: Richard E Aaron/Redferns

© Photograph: Richard E Aaron/Redferns

The world is mourning the passing of the queen of country, Dolly Parton. Her enormous legacy spans not only music, but the world of movies and entertainment, health care, philanthropy and education. Amna Nawaz takes a look at Parton's extraordinary life.

Dolly Parton was more than a musician, actor, author, philanthropist, or theme-park entrepreneur. Parton, who died Tuesday at age 80, occupied a space in our global cultural imagination — a figure of American mythology, someone best described as larger-than-life and then a little bit more. But from the very beginning, at the heart of everything she accomplished, she was a songwriter.

Dolly Parton, the country music icon whose soaring vibrato vocals, poignant songwriting and sparkling costumes defined her rise from a log cabin in the Tennessee mountains to the height of stardom and acclaim, has died.