Faith was integral to icon Dolly
Dolly Parton rose from a one-room cabin in the Tennessee mountains to build a global entertainment empire – but she never forgot the God who made it all possible.
The country music superstar died peacefully in Nashville on 25 August 2026, aged 80, following a brief battle with cancer.
Behind the big hair, high heels and dazzling outfits was a woman whose Christian faith shaped her music, generosity and remarkable business success.
Dolly Rebecca Parton was born on 19 January 1946, the fourth of 12 children raised by Robert Lee and Avie Lee Parton.
The family was “dirt poor”, living without electricity or running water in the Great Smoky Mountains.
Her grandfather, Jake Owens, was a Pentecostal preacher, and Dolly began singing in church as a six-year-old.
That childhood faith remained her anchor through seven decades in showbusiness.
Her talent was evident early.
In 1959, aged just 13, Dolly and her uncle Bill Owens secured a guest appearance at Nashville’s legendary Grand Ole Opry after country star Jimmy C Newman surrendered one of his slots.
Johnny Cash introduced the unknown teenager before she sang George Jones’s You Gotta Be My Baby.
The audience demanded three encores – an extraordinary reception which offered a dazzling glimpse of what was to come.
“My faith impacts everything that I do because I do believe that, through God, all things are possible,” she said.
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