The country music icon’s nephew — and head of security for two-plus decades — Bryan Seaver announced her passing at 80 in an emotional video Tuesday.The country music icon’s nephew — and head of security for two-plus decades — Bryan Seaver announced her passing at 80 in an emotional video Tuesday.
Dolly Parton detailed “hard times” with her health days before her tragic death at 80.
In the country music icon’s final interview on Friday, she opened up to People about “dealing with some health issues,” which forced her to cancel an appearance at her Dollywood theme park.
However, she noted, “It’s not like I haven’t been through hard times with my health.”
Parton specifically referenced being “down for several months with female issues” in the early 1980s.
The singer added that her most recent health struggles stemmed from not “pay[ing] attention” while “watching over” her late husband, Carl Thomas Dean.
Dean, notably, died in March 2025 at 82, nearly 59 years into the couple’s marriage.
Parton shared the news of her longtime partner’s passing last year — and it was her nephew who did the same for her “with absolute pride and great sadness.”
“This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago before I fully absorbed it as a future reality,” Bryan Seaver, who was also Parton’s head of security for more than two decades, said of the “honor.”
In his tribute, he revealed, “Dolly called me and said she wants to rest in a beautiful bed of plush cotton because after a life wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and have some rest.”
This is a developing story…
