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Dolly Parton’s Cautious Politics Resulted in Widespread Affection

27 August 2026 at 12:03
Bipartisan tributes demonstrated the success of the singer’s long-running effort to stay out of party politics in a sharply divided country.

© Timothy D. Easley/Associated Press

Dolly Parton, whose death was announced on Tuesday, kept partisan politics at a distance throughout her career.

Martina McBride shares her favorite Dolly Parton memories

Tributes continued to pour in for Dolly Parton a day after her death. Singer-songwriter Martina McBride, named female vocalist of the year four times by the Country Music Association and three times by the Academy of Country Music, joined Amna Nawaz to discuss her friend and fellow icon.

Dolly Parton's greatest songs, and the stories behind them

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, beloved music star, actor and philanthropist, dies at 80

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.

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