Benztown Offers Audio Tribute to Dolly Parton

RADIO ONLINE | Tuesday, August 25, 2026 | 4:23pm CT

Dolly Parton

Benztown has produced an audio tribute honoring country music legend Dolly Parton, who died Tuesday, August 25, in Nashville at age 80. Her publicist said Parton died peacefully, with no cause of death immediately disclosed.

The Benztown Audio Tribute to Parton was voiced by MJ Bloch and written and produced by Thomas Green. The tribute looks back at the life and career of the singer, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur and philanthropist whose music crossed generations and genres.

Born Dolly Rebecca Parton on January 19, 1946, in Locust Ridge, TN, she was the fourth of 12 children and grew up in poverty in the mountains of East Tennessee. Music was part of her life from an early age, and after graduating from high school in 1964, she moved to Nashville to pursue a career in music. Her breakthrough came after joining "The Porter Wagoner Show" in 1967.

Parton went on to become one of country music's most recognizable and successful performers, writing thousands of songs and recording enduring hits including "Jolene," "Coat of Many Colors," "Here You Come Again," "9 to 5" and "I Will Always Love You." The latter became an even bigger pop hit when Whitney Houston recorded it for "The Bodyguard" in 1992.

Her career extended well beyond country radio. Parton successfully crossed into pop music and became a movie star with films including "9 to 5," "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" and "Steel Magnolias." She also built a business empire that included Dollywood, the East Tennessee theme park that opened under her name in 1986.

Parton was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. Her honors also included Grammy Awards, the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award, Kennedy Center Honors and the National Medal of Arts.

Her legacy also extended deeply into philanthropy. Parton founded the Imagination Library in 1995 to provide free books to young children, initially in her home county in Tennessee. The program eventually expanded across the U.S. and internationally, distributing hundreds of millions of books. She also contributed to disaster relief, education and medical research, including a $1 million donation to Vanderbilt University Medical Center that supported research connected with development of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.

Parton's husband of nearly 60 years, Carl Dean, died in 2025 at age 82. The couple married in 1966.

The Benztown tribute is available on SoundCloud.