OBITUARY BY DARKSIDE: Dolly Parton, 1946-2026
The following epitaph is by our very own Darkside. The butterflies of the world are all lying in state today. The legendary Dolly Parton, singer, actress, songwriter, activist, philanthropist, business owner, and general ray of glittery gold sunshine in a sometimes truly bleak and tragic world, has passed away at the age of 80. While news of her passing isn't a total surprise (her husband passed away about 18 months ago and she had been canceling and postponing multiple events for undisclosed “health reasons” recently,) that doesn't make the loss any less shocking...or less painful. Dolly Rebecca Parton was born January 19, 1946 in a one room cabin in Pittman Center, Tennessee, the fourth of twelve children. Parton channeled the struggle of her family's poverty into music, singing in church at six and playing a homemade guitar at seven. Upon graduating from Sevier County High School in 1964, she moved to Nashville the next day to make it as a musician. Despite recording he...