Across six decades, the late country singer and pop culture icon turned self‑presentation into a flamboyant art form

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Dolly Parton may have had a record 25 US country No 1 singles, released 66 studio albums and earned six Golden Globe nominations, among many other achievements, but the Tennessee-born star also had an incredible number of fashion moments. “It costs a lot of money to look this cheap”, she famously quipped when asked about her style. As we bid her farewell, six Guardian writers reflect on their favourite Dolly looks.

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© Photograph: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

© Photograph: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

© Photograph: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

What track gets your feet moving the moment you hear it – and on to the dancefloor? I Feel Love by Donna Summer? Or We Found Love by Rihanna? We’d love to hear what yours is

There are some songs which are guaranteed dancefloor fillers whether it’s at a wedding, a club or a music festival.

We would love to hear from people about the song that always gets them on the dancefloor. Are you throwing shapes to Beyoncé’s Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) or ABBA’s Dancing Queen? Why is your go-to song for dancing your favourite?

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© Photograph: Posed by models; Maskot/Getty Images

© Photograph: Posed by models; Maskot/Getty Images

© Photograph: Posed by models; Maskot/Getty Images

Ahead of the release of her 13th solo album, the fantastically titled Chakzilla, we rank the best of a sublime catalogue of funk, slow jams and tears-on-the-dancefloor disco

Chaka Khan had harsh words for the “assholes” at her then record company, Warner Bros, who she felt under-promoted 1992’s The Woman I Am, her first album in four years. Listening to Love You All My Lifetime’s cocktail of funk and contemporary R&B, you wonder if she didn’t have a point. There’s no obvious reason why it wasn’t huge hit.

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© Photograph: Michael Putland/Getty Images

© Photograph: Michael Putland/Getty Images

© Photograph: Michael Putland/Getty Images

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

Even Machiavelli wouldn’t like Trump’s doings.

© Victor J. Blue for The New York Times

She didn’t see herself as a saint; she identified as something we needed even more: a writer.

© Timothy White/AUGUST

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.

The country star supported early childhood literacy, disaster relief, the development of the Covid-19 vaccine and more.

© Andrew Harnik/Associated Press