Taylor Swift Pays Tribute to ‘Dazzling’ Dolly Parton: ‘She Was True Grace and True Grit’

Angel Saunders, Melody ChiuWed, August 26, 2026 at 3:47 AM UTC

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Taylor Swift; Dolly PartonCredit: Kevin Mazur/Getty; Theo Wargo/Getty -

Taylor Swift honored Dolly Parton’s legacy, calling her a role model with “true grace and true grit”

Parton’s nephew confirmed her passing at 80 years old after “a brief battle with cancer” on Tuesday, Aug. 25

Swift and Parton have long shared their admiration for one another, dating back more than a decade

Taylor Swift is paying tribute to Dolly Parton after news of the legendary singer’s death at 80.

“A world without Dolly doesn’t feel possible, real, or right,” Swift, 36, said in a statement shared in a statement with PEOPLE on Tuesday, Aug. 25. “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.”

Dolly Parton for People Magazine by Art Streiber on 10/21/2018 at Greenleaf Studios, CaliforniaCredit: Art Streiber

“Dolly gave us someone to look up to while encouraging us to be who we are as individuals,” Swift’s statement continued.

The “Love Story” singer remembered Parton for sharing “lessons about the world gently and honestly, simultaneously, and oftentimes hilariously.”

“She managed to give the world the ultimate mystery and fantasy in some corners of her life, but to give full transparency in the ways that counted. Somehow she was true grace and true grit, all in one dazzling person. She possessed the softest heart when it came to the struggles of others, and a backbone of steel to defend her own self worth as an artist,” the pop star continued.

“Along with her other fans, I am so grateful for all of it,” Swift said. “For the melodies and lyrics she wrote that thawed even the coldest hearts. For the millions of books she provided children all over the world so that they might fall in love with stories the way she did. For the tightropes she walked so that young girls like me could grow up dreaming of joining the circus too.”

“Dolly, I’ll think of you each step of the way,” Swift said.

The “9 to 5” singer’s nephew, Bryan Seaver, confirmed her passing in an Instagram video shared earlier in the day.

Reps for Parton later told PEOPLE that the “I Will Always Love You” singer’s death followed a “brief battle with cancer.”

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One of Parton’s last social media posts was an Instagram video of the country superstar thanking Swift and her husband, Travis Kelce, for their $2 million donation to one of her most prolific charitable endeavors — Parton’s Imagination Library.

“Taylor and Travis, it’s Dolly, and I was just told that you two were making a donation of $2 million to my Imagination Library,” she said in the July 3 clip. “I’m blown away and overjoyed with that gratitude.”

Country singer Dolly Parton performs onstage with an acoustic guitar in circa 1974.Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

The post was the same day that the pop star and the NFL star, also 36, tied the knot at Madison Square Garden.

Before the video ended, Parton jokingly added, “Now, it’s evident that you have made giving back a key part of your lives, so hey, when you have your firstborn, can I have it? Because that is gonna be one special baby!”

Their admiration for one another is mutual as Parton has been a fan of Swift’s for more than a decade.

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“A lot of people came to Nashville at the same time I did, with far more talent than me, but they never made it. You wonder why that happens. I think that little Taylor Swift has just done amazing,” Parton told PEOPLE exclusively in March 2015.

“She knew exactly who she was, she had her dream, and she stuck with it. That’s what you gotta do. I’m just so proud of her,” she said of the singer.

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”