Country music icon Dolly Parton dies aged 80, family announces

US country music legend Dolly Parton has died at the age of 80 in Nashville, her family announced in a statement shared on social media.

Her nephew and security chief, Bryan Seaver, confirmed her death in a video posted to Parton's official social media channels on Tuesday.

"This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality," Seaver said, adding that it was an "honour that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness."

Parton wrote hundreds of songs and was behind global hits including "Jolene," "9 to 5," and "I Will Always Love You". According to Seaver, Parton wanted the latter phrase to be used as her final farewell.

“After bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her Earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones,” her publicist, Marcel Pariseau, said in a statement Tuesday.

Parton was admitted to a cancer treatment facility on Friday, according to People magazine. The singer had acknowledged in a recent interview with the magazine that she had been "dealing with some health issues".

The singer, songwriter and actress was one of the most influential figures in country music and shaped music and popular culture over a career spanning decades.

Beyond these accomplishments, Parton expanded her legacy by opening her own theme park "Dollywood" in East Tennessee, established the Dollywood Foundation and wrote several books and memoirs.

Parton is the third-most nominated woman in Grammy history, only behind Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, with 55 Grammy nominations and 10 wins.

The news of Dolly Parton's death evoked an outpouring of reactions from prominent figures across the entertainment industry and beyond.

R&B singer Beyoncé, with whom Parton collaborated with for her Grammy-winning album "Cowboy Carter" issued a statement on Tuesday to mourn the death of the country singer.

"You were the barometer. The North Star. Bold and brilliant. Talented and tenacious. You taught so many lessons on how to be uniquely oneself," Beyonce wrote on her website Tuesday.

"A world without Dolly doesn't feel possible, real, or right," Popstar Taylor Swift said in a statement shared with Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. "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."

Beatle Paul McCartney posted about meeting Parton at "the Grand Old Opry" in Nashville early in her career, adding "she was so bubbly and full of life it is difficult to take in the news that she has passed," in an Instagram post.

US President Donald Trump paid tribute to Parton in a post on his Truth Social account, calling her passing a "true loss for millions of people."

"There has never been anyone like her, and never will," Trump wrote.

He added: "In her honor, I am lowering the American flag throughout the United States for a one week period beginning tonight at 6:00PM."