The singer, songwriter, businesswoman, and philanthropist Dolly Parton died yesterday at the age of 80, but her legacy will endure. And it is likely that her fortune, estimated at 385 million euros, will endure as well. The country icon leaves behind an enormous musical catalog—she wrote more than 3,000 songs—besides an even larger brand, with her name and image on all kinds of products. The Dolly Parton brand ranges from musical instruments to a theme park, including kitchenware and cake mixes, wine and wigs, as well as a Broadway show and several films.
Dolly Rebecca Parton was born in a small two-room wooden cabin in rural Tennessee, and, in her own words, she spent her childhood “in the absolute poverty”. Despite everything, she ended up becoming one of the wealthiest and most respected artists in country music. Her rise to fame came in 1967, when she joined as a regular singer on the successful television program The Porter Wagoner Show. This opportunity pulled her out of anonymity and allowed her to sign with a major record label.
The artist always kept ownership of her musical catalog, which included unerasable hits such as Jolene, 9 to 5 and I Will Always Love You, whose version was popularized by Whitney Houston. Just her repertoire was valued at 100 million euros. The singer-songwriter also had a significant stake in her own theme park, Dollywood, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Dolly Parton died without direct family. She never had children and her husband, Carl Dean, died last year at the age of 82. However, she did have a large family, and it was her nephew, Bryan Seaver, who announced her death. “Dolly called me and told me she wanted to rest in a beautiful bed of soft cotton because, after a life wearing heavy imitation diamonds, she finally deserves to be comfortable and rest a little,” Seaver said in a video after the singer’s death.
Dolly Parton and Her Infinite Generosity
Throughout her life, Dolly Parton raised millions for numerous charitable causes, including the American Red Cross and various HIV/AIDS-related charities. She also participated in campaigns ranging from helping wildfire victims to building a shelter to preserve the bald eagle. And if during the pandemic you were given the Moderna vaccine for the coronavirus, you have to thank her as well, because she donated a million in April 2020 to fund its research.
Dolly Parton, in a 1975 image.
In 1995, she founded the Imagination Library at the Dollywood Foundation, a program she described as her greatest achievement. The program mails a new, free book to children around the world from birth until they begin preschool. Dolly Parton funded the project—already having given away more than 300 million books—in memory of her father. “He didn’t have the opportunity to go to school,” she told CNN in 2016. “He couldn’t read or write, and that was a big obstacle for him because he was very intelligent.”
Dolly Parton also paid 100% of college and training costs for all Dollywood employees and relentlessly promoted education in her home county. Through the Buddy Program, she promised $500 to each student who graduated from high school, on the condition that the buddy they chose would do the same. This mutual responsibility managed to reduce the local high school dropout rate from 35% to just 6%.
Who Will Inherit Dolly Parton’s Fortune
Although Dolly Parton’s will has not yet been made public, the last wishes of her late husband could contain clues about the fate of her fortune. According to Us Weekly, Dean’s will bequeathed his estate to a trust in his wife’s name and left her all his personal belongings. He also left a handwritten note specifying which family members—cousins and great-nieces/nephews—would inherit certain objects and personal effects. Dean had five nieces and nephews, while Parton had fourteen.
In 2020, the singer told Billboard that she was working with a succession lawyer to draft a will, and her representative, Danny Nozell, stated that they were doing it with her legacy in mind. This suggests she would likely allocate a large portion of her money to charitable causes.
“I wouldn’t want to leave that mess to someone else,” the singer said at the time, referring to music legends such as Aretha Franklin or Prince, who died without a will. “A word of advice to all other artists: if you haven’t taken these steps yet, do it. You don’t want to leave that mess to your family for people to fight over. You have to take care of that yourself, even if it’s a hassle. And it is a hassle.”
