Rest in Peace, Dolly. The world will always love you

Just the other day, for reasons unknown, I started thinking about which older celebrities (those in their 80s) could die and whose deaths would be truly upsetting to the masses.

For me, three musicians quickly came to mind, all of whose songs have resonated with so many across the country and around the world.

Those three are Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and Dolly Parton.

On Tuesday afternoon inside the quiet offices of Poynter, a colleague suddenly and without warning screamed, “Nooooooooooo!”

The news had just broken: Dolly Parton had died. She was 80.

Parton died after a brief battle with cancer, a spokesperson said Tuesday, though he did not provide additional details about her illness. Concerns about Parton’s health arose last year after she postponed a Las Vegas residency, citing unspecified health problems, and she later said she had been dealing with kidney stones and challenges with her immune and digestive systems.

In a remembrance for The New York Times, Bill Friskics-Warren described Parton as “the country singer, songwriter, entertainer and entrepreneur whose rags-to-riches story, outsize persona and prodigious vision and talent placed her in a class by herself.”

She was more than just a country singer. Parton was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and also appeared in films, most notably in “9 to 5” and “Steel Magnolias” — more than holding her own alongside acting legends such as Jane Fonda, Sally Field and Shirley MacLaine. And she was a shrewd businesswoman and selfless philanthropist.

She was also, of course, a prolific songwriter, writing such hits as “I Will Always Love You” and “Jolene,” leading Friskics-Warren to write, “Her songs spoke to millions, confronting privation and loss even as they radiated possibility and hope.”

But, mostly, it was her easygoing, bubbly, optimistic, oversized yet down-to-earth personality that touched her fans — which included pretty much everyone.

Along the way, she won 10 Grammy Awards, received two Academy Award nominations for Best Original Song, a Primetime Emmy and 10 Country Music Association awards.

And she accomplished all that after being raised as one of 12 children in a one-bedroom Tennessee cabin with no electricity. In a piece for the Los Angeles Times, RJ Smith wrote, “Parton’s rags-to-riches tale reads like a classic country music story-song. But before it became mythical, it was only incredibly hard.”

Smith also wrote, “Parton reinvented the American success story through a combination of grit and wit, faith and sex appeal, virtuosity and plainspokenness, empathy for the human condition and plastic surgery. She seized on the roles that American culture allowed for women in the spotlight — waif, trollop, fallen woman, country girl in over her head — and played them to the hilt, achieving artistic and financial heights few female performers have ever reached. By the time of her death, she was said to be one of the few things that Americans of most every persuasion could agree on.”

Put it this way, in 2019, The New York Times ran a story with this headline: “Is There Anything We Can All Agree On? Yes: Dolly Parton.”

Today, we can all agree the loss of a true legend makes this a sad, sad moment. Country singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves might have put it best when she tweeted, “The world feels a lot less sparkly all of a sudden.”

Here’s more from Rolling Stone’s Stephen L. Betts and Jonathan Bernstein, who wrote that Parton’s songs “vividly captured details of her impoverished Appalachian upbringing, shared her views on love, faith, loss, and regret, and inspired and influenced future generations of songwriters and performers moved by her indomitable spirit, sparkling wit, and down-home wisdom.”

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump passed along his thoughts about Parton’s passing and ordered U.S. flags to be lowered for one week.

“Very sad to report that Dolly Parton, one of the greatest Country singers, and far beyond, EVER, has just passed away. This is a true loss for millions of people. There has never been anyone like her, and never will. In her honor, I am lowering the American flag throughout the United States for a one week. Rest in Peace, Dolly! The World loves you.”