Publicist reveals Dolly Parton’s cause of death

EntertainmentDolly Parton, left, and Kenny Rogers rehearse a song for their appearance on the TV show "Live... And in Person" in Los Angeles on Sept. 27, 1983. (AP Photo/Doug Pizac, File)AP Photo/Doug PizacDolly Parton died after a brief battle with cancer, her publicist Marcel Pariseau told CNN on Tuesday night.The legendary country music icon died Tuesday at 80 years old.“After bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her Earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones,” Pariseau’s statement said.Parton was admitted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville on Friday morning with kidney and autoimmune issues, according to TMZ. Her death was announced in a video shared on her social media accounts on Tuesday. It came after the beloved singer endured months of health issues.Parton wrote hundreds of songs, including classics like “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors” and “I Will Always Love You,” that totaled more than 100 million worldwide sales and more than 1 billion online streams. Parton, who plucked bejeweled banjos, guitar and dulcimers with her long fingernails during performances, was a generous philanthropist and successful businesswoman whose projects included a theme park in the Smoky Mountain foothills near her birthplace.Parton revealed earlier this month that she is still dealing with health issues, but the 80-year-old country music legend was still “workin.”Parton told PEOPLE just last week she put her own health aside while caring for her late husband of 60 years, Carl Dean, who died at age 82 in March 2025.“I am dealing with some health issues that I just didn’t pay attention to when I was watching over Carl,” she said.She also recalled in the early 1980s when she was “down for several months with female issues.”“It’s not like I haven’t been through hard times with my health,” she said. “But I think because we live in a 24/7 world with social media, everything gets magnified in ways it wasn’t years ago. I used to joke that I was the Queen of the Tabloids, but now I guess I can say I’m the Queen of Social Media AI! Seriously, though, even though I’m still healin’, I’m still workin’.”RELATED: Dolly’s last social media postShe added social media had “magnified” her health issues.Parton canceled her Las Vegas residency earlier this year citing health concerns.Parton’s nephew, Bryan Seaver, announced earlier Tuesday the country music icon died peacefully in Nashville, Tennessee.“Our beloved Dolly Parton spent her life and career bringing joy, laughter, hope and integrity into everything she touched,” Pariseau said. “Her unmatched generosity reached the lives of countless people whom she would never meet, yet she was always there to offer a helping hand.”RELATED: Dollywood’s web site crashes, park releases statement about DollyPariseau referenced the hundreds of millions of books donated to children for free through her Imagination Library, funding for research for lifesaving vaccines as examples of Parton’s “unconditional love for all people,” which was the “guiding force for her lasting impact.”Mark Heim is a senior writer who provides sports, news and trending content. He co-hosts a daily sports radio show on WNSP-FM 105.5 in Mobile. Heim has been recognized with awards for his writing, headlines and...