Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
(25 Aug 2026)
ASSOCIATED PRESS/INVISION
Nashville, Tenn. - 20 March 2025
1. STILL IMAGE: Dolly Parton performs during for "Threads: My Songs in Symphony" (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP) 25080060959156
ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York – 25 August 2026
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Maria Sherman, Associated Press:
“It's hard to quantify what Dolly Parton's legacy will be. Unlike most musicians, she's kind of this larger than life figure. She sort of eclipses her own celebrity, truly. And I think that's because people really love her as a kind of figure. I see her as inextricable from the American imagination. You know, she dreamed of a better world with country music and rhinestones and big blonde hair and classic songs. She's also in this rare position where she was beloved by people across gender and race and class lines, which really isn't quite common, especially now in 2026. And as she told the Associated Press a couple of years ago, she really hopes to be remembered for the songs that she's written and also that she tried to do some good while she was here. She was a really animated and enthusiastic philanthropist. A lot of that is because she grew up in poverty in East Tennessee. She was one of 12 kids, sort of famously, her father was illiterate, which helped inspire her Imagination Library, donating books to children. By 2025, I believe she donated over 200 million books to kids in need. In 2020, she donated a million dollars to COVID-19 research, which helped develop the Moderna vaccine. So, in addition to being this larger-than-life figure, we think of Dollywood, we think of her big personality, we think of these classic songs. We're also thinking about a really charitable figure who truly was beloved by most. And that's quite rare.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nashville, Tenn. - 1977
3. Dolly Parton at the CMA Awards in Nashville in 1977. (AP Photo) ID 77010112538
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Beverly Hills, Calif. - 12 Dec. 1980
4. STILL IMAGE: Actors Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, from left, join Country Music singer Dolly Parton, right, in front of a mural advertising their motion picture "9 to 5" at the premiere night (AP Photo) ID 801212096
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Los Angeles - 27 September 1983
5. STILL IMAGE: Country Music singers Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers rehearse a song for their appearance on the TV show "Live... And in Person" (AP Photo/Doug Pizac) ID 830912016
ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York – 25 August 2026
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Maria Sherman, Associated Press:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pigeon Forge, Tenn. - 21 May 2010
++4:3 MATERIAL++
7. Dolly Parton and the Cyruses ride through Dollywood in an antique car waving to the crowd
ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York – 25 August 2026
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Maria Sherman, Associated Press:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Overland Park, Kan. - 14 August 2023
9. STILL IMAGE: Dolly Parton performs during an event celebrating the Kansas statewide expansion of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File) 25062857106360
STORYLINE:
There are a few inalienable truths: Everyone was born, everyone will die, and everyone loved Dolly Parton.
Larger-than-life at 5-foot-nothing, the country star, actor, philanthropist, entrepreneur and theme park enthusiast who died Tuesday, transcended celebrity in rhinestones and fringe. She was embraced by fans across gender, race and class, embodying a mythology typically inaccessible to even the most influential historical figures.
===========================================================
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Twitter: twitter.com/AP_Archive
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(25 Aug 2026)
ASSOCIATED PRESS/INVISION
Nashville, Tenn. - 20 March 2025
1. STILL IMAGE: Dolly Parton performs during for "Threads: My Songs in Symphony" (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP) 25080060959156
ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York – 25 August 2026
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Maria Sherman, Associated Press:
“It's hard to quantify what Dolly Parton's legacy will be. Unlike most musicians, she's kind of this larger than life figure. She sort of eclipses her own celebrity, truly. And I think that's because people really love her as a kind of figure. I see her as inextricable from the American imagination. You know, she dreamed of a better world with country music and rhinestones and big blonde hair and classic songs. She's also in this rare position where she was beloved by people across gender and race and class lines, which really isn't quite common, especially now in 2026. And as she told the Associated Press a couple of years ago, she really hopes to be remembered for the songs that she's written and also that she tried to do some good while she was here. She was a really animated and enthusiastic philanthropist. A lot of that is because she grew up in poverty in East Tennessee. She was one of 12 kids, sort of famously, her father was illiterate, which helped inspire her Imagination Library, donating books to children. By 2025, I believe she donated over 200 million books to kids in need. In 2020, she donated a million dollars to COVID-19 research, which helped develop the Moderna vaccine. So, in addition to being this larger-than-life figure, we think of Dollywood, we think of her big personality, we think of these classic songs. We're also thinking about a really charitable figure who truly was beloved by most. And that's quite rare.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nashville, Tenn. - 1977
3. Dolly Parton at the CMA Awards in Nashville in 1977. (AP Photo) ID 77010112538
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Beverly Hills, Calif. - 12 Dec. 1980
4. STILL IMAGE: Actors Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, from left, join Country Music singer Dolly Parton, right, in front of a mural advertising their motion picture "9 to 5" at the premiere night (AP Photo) ID 801212096
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Los Angeles - 27 September 1983
5. STILL IMAGE: Country Music singers Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers rehearse a song for their appearance on the TV show "Live... And in Person" (AP Photo/Doug Pizac) ID 830912016
ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York – 25 August 2026
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Maria Sherman, Associated Press:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pigeon Forge, Tenn. - 21 May 2010
++4:3 MATERIAL++
7. Dolly Parton and the Cyruses ride through Dollywood in an antique car waving to the crowd
ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York – 25 August 2026
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Maria Sherman, Associated Press:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Overland Park, Kan. - 14 August 2023
9. STILL IMAGE: Dolly Parton performs during an event celebrating the Kansas statewide expansion of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File) 25062857106360
STORYLINE:
There are a few inalienable truths: Everyone was born, everyone will die, and everyone loved Dolly Parton.
Larger-than-life at 5-foot-nothing, the country star, actor, philanthropist, entrepreneur and theme park enthusiast who died Tuesday, transcended celebrity in rhinestones and fringe. She was embraced by fans across gender, race and class, embodying a mythology typically inaccessible to even the most influential historical figures.
===========================================================
Find out more about AP Archive: aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: instagram.com/APNews
You can license this story through AP Archive: aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/8f15e7808ff24863b7bb4bec19356c53
