Music icon Dolly Parton dead at 80

She was the songbird with the sunny personality and sky-high hair. Writing legendary lyrics and lighting up screens. It takes some effort to look like this. Dolly Parton did it all for decades, but Tuesday her family delivering devastating news. The musical icon died in Nashville after a short battle with cancer. She was 80 years old. Sadness lies with us not with Dolly. Her life could be a movie. Growing up in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, Parton was in a family of 14, living in a small cabin with no electricity. Music was the source of life. When people would come to our house, mom would say, run and get your guitar. At 13, she performed at the Grand Ole Opry. After high school, she moved to Nashville, met and married her husband, Carl Dean, co-wrote top 10 hits and landed on the top 40 music chart with this cheeky song. Parton sang about tough topics like poverty and complicated love stories. In movies, she sparkled from 9 to 5 to steal magnolias. It's heaven right here on earth. She reached new heights with her own theme park. But it's the music that made her a legend, the queen of country holding court in multiple Hall of Fames. And that day has now come. She never saw a door she couldn't open, and the door she opened made and changed history. Fans in mourning gathered by her Hollywood Walk of Fame star. When I first heard the news, it was no, no. It's like a family member. You go, this can't be true. Among the stars paying tribute, Elton John saying he's devastated. Reba McEntire remembering her huge, huge heart. She was one of the most benevolent people I've ever met. Her thoughts were always for and with others. Parton always believed in more than this world. When her husband of nearly 60 years died in 2025, she wrote he was in God's arms. And now her family says she is too. Makda Gebreselasa, CBC News, Toronto.