Taylor Swift shared a touching tribute to the late Dolly Parton after the iconic singer-songwriter’s death on Tuesday.
“A world without Dolly doesn’t feel possible, real, or right,” it reads. “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.
“She was truly the gift that kept on giving. Dolly gave us someone to look up to while encouraging us to be who we are as individuals. Somehow she was able to give us her 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.
“Along with her other fans, I am so grateful for all of it. 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.”
~ Taylor Swift
Parton, the queen of country music, died at age 80 in Nashville. Swift, who got her start in country music before going on to massive crossover success, has never been shy about her reverence for Parton, whom she recently described [via The Hollywood Reporter] as a “force of evolution and transformation” in the music business and a “storyteller for the ages.”
Likewise, Parton has championed Swift, telling Variety that the younger songstress was “amazing” for what she’d accomplished in her career thus far.
“I just admire her very much and how she’s handled her business, her personal life, and what all she has meant to so many young people,” Parton said in the 2024 interview. “[She’s] been a great inspiration. And Lord knows we need some uplifting people and things this day and time.”
Last month, Parton posted a video message thanking Swift and Travis Kelce for donating $2 million to Parton’s Imagination Library (a literacy program that gifts free books every month to children from birth to age 5) ahead of their July 3 wedding at Madison Square Garden.
“It’s evident that you two have made giving back a key part of your lives, so hey, when you have your firstborn, can I have it? Because that is going to be one special baby,” Parton joked, telling the couple she was “overjoyed” by their generosity and signing off by singing “I Will Always Love You.”
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