Grammy-winning country music legend Dolly Parton has died at age 80. The cause has not yet been confirmed.
Her death was announced in an Instagram video on Tuesday, shared by her nephew, Bryan Seaver, son of Cassie Parton. Seaver said Parton requested he deliver the news of her death before she passed. “As her head of security for more than two decades, a role my father Larry held before me, I have imagined the heaviness of this moment, but haven’t truly felt it until now,” he started. “It is an honor, an honor that is mixed with pride and great sadness. But sadness lies with us, not with Dolly.”
Seaver recalled memories of being on the road with his aunt in the early 1980s, adding, “Dolly opened doors for me, not just for me, but for her entire family to reach the potential we didn’t even know was possible.
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“Dolly also opened doors for generations of singers, songwriters, musicians and dreamers from every walk of life and across every continent,” he continued.
Parton certainly left an indelible mark on not only her fans but the wider beauty and fashion mecca. After launching her own fragrance line in 2021, the “Jolene” vocalist debuted an eponymous makeup line in August 2024, starting with the Heaven’s Kiss lipstick collection, featuring four shades, each bottled in their own bedazzled tube.
In an exclusive interview with WWD, Parton expressed: “I’ve wanted to be pretty my whole life like most girls, especially country girls that have a dream of glamour. I started creating my own little makeup things at home when I was just a kid, and I’ve been known for wearing makeup — usually too much — for years.”
When it came to her everyday look, Parton, indeed, favored a full glam aesthetic — star-dusted eyes, stark lip liner, acrylic talons and all. Meanwhile, her bleach blond hair, real or wig, was typically kept, or purposefully unkept, in a messy mullet; a half-up, half-down waterfall; or a feathered shag. Ahead, WWD takes a look back at five of best beauty moments through the years.
1984
At a benefit for Saint John’s Hospital in Santa Monica in 1984, Parton sported a helmet of platinum finger waves that accented her bold, shimmery eyes, arched brows and glossed lips.
1990
A few years later, in New York City, Parton took the stage with patent red talons, ’80s-inspired muddy blond hair, dark brown brows and sunset shadow that melted over lids, juxtaposing the black liner that colored her lashes and filled her waterline. For lips, Parton opted for a matte rose liner and pale gloss.
2006
For the 78th annual Academy Awards, Parton kept things pretty in pink. Her soft bubblegum-colored chiffon gown was paired with a platinum shag cut, fuchsia lips, a burnt orange and brown smoky eye and pastel pink nails, which were notably shorter than the tips she typically favored.
2015
On stage at the Pure and Simple Benefit for The Opry Trust Fund in 2015, Parton matched the rainbow-studded vibrance of her fashion with an equally eccentric makeup aesthetic. The singer colored a cloud of blue and white shadow over her eyes next to harsh inky black liner. Her complexion was the usual pale, even-toned base she regularly wore; however, her cheeks were dusted in a baby pink hue like the shade on her lips.
2023
In her 2023 “Rockstar” era, Parton added inches to her curly blond ends and lightened her brows. She also kept finely cut fringe and coral hues over her eyes. And to add even more angst to her aesthetic, Parton painted her lips red.
