Dolly Parton led a very busy life, and that continued to be true up until the day that she passed away.
The country music world – and the world at large – is heartbroken after learning that the “Queen of Country Music” herself, Dolly Parton, passed away at the age of 80. Parton was easily the most beloved person on the planet (there’s statistics to back that up), and her talent as a singer and songwriter led her to also become known as a philanthropist, actress, playwright, and author. Sadly, the “9 to 5” singer passed away peacefully today in her home state of Tennessee.
Just four days ago, on August 21, Dolly Parton said in an interview with People that she was focusing on her healing, and that she still had “many things” that she wanted to do:
“Even though I’m still healin’, I’m still workin’! You know me — as I’ve often said — I’ve dreamed myself into a corner and I still have so many things I want to achieve, so I’m gonna keep on working as long as I can to see everything come to life.”
That’s heartbreaking to hear now that she’s no longer with us.
But when Dolly said she had so many things she still wanted to achieve, she wasn’t kidding. Even after eight decades on this Earth, her plate was completely full, and we decided to dive into the sprawling list of things that Parton was still working on when she passed away at the age of 80:
‘DOLLY: A True Original Musical’ on Broadway
After doing a test run in Nashville in 2025, Dolly’s DOLLY: A True Original Musical is set to make it’s Broadway debut later this year. Dolly produced it alongside Danny Nozell, Adam Speers for ATG Productions, and Gavin Kalin Productions, and she previously said her “whole life has been a musical,” so it made putting together the production an easy fit:
“My whole life has been a musical. A grand ole opera really! We have a wonderful director, sets, costumes, choreography, music and all the things you need to make a wonderful, entertaining show! Can’t wait to see you there!”
Though the run of Nashville shows was done in an effort to iron out any wrinkles in the musical, it’s believed that Dolly was still working on finalizing the show. As of right now, preview performances of the show will start on Monday, December 7th, and the show’s opening night will take place on what would have been Parton’s 81st birthday: Tuesday, January 19th of 2027.
SongTeller Hotel & Life of Many Colors Museum In Nashville
Dolly Parton bought a Downtown Nashville building (211 Commerce Street, to be exact) back in 2023, and announced that she’d be turning the 233,000 square foot, 11-story building – which is directly beside Nashville’s famous “Batman Building” – into a hotel and museum.
The country music icon was about a month away from hotel’s opening when she passed. September 14 is the date when reservations are set to first became available, and social media posts have been teasing that the hotel’s entertainment and restaurant options – Jolene’s and Parton’s Live – were “coming soon.” Dolly’s SongTeller Hotel, opening in October 2026 (likely with the rest of the building) will also feature a museum called the Life of Many Colors, and it’ll be featured on the third floor of the building.
Multiplying Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stops
In classic Dolly fashion, she wanted to continue to innovate and further her brand, so she decided to get into the gas station business. The country music star announced late last year that she was partnering with the team behind the Tennessean Travel Stop to rebrand its flagship Cornersville, Tennessee location to the first ever Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop.
Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stops combine hospitality, retail, and entertainment elements, and as you might imagine, Dolly is the de facto mascot of the entire place. The inaugural spot opened up back in June of this year, and plans to expand across Tennessee – and possibly the rest of the United States – are still ongoing.
Songwriting
Parton was always very adamant that everything she achieved in her life was provided to her because of her songwriting. She penned some of the greatest songs of all time – including “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You” – and continued to write songs on a daily basis (though she did admit she took a break for a while after her husband, Carl Dean, passed away).
And because of her lifetime of songwriting, she was set to accept the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2026 Americana Honors & Awards on September 16th. It’s such a sad realization that Parton herself won’t be there to accept that great honor. That said, she was able to accept the ACM Poet’s Award at the ACM’s Honor Awards last week.
You can view the video she sent in – where she talked a lot about her love for songwriting – below:
Avatar Performances
Believe it or not, the “Queen of Country” was working on a program that would allow for a hologram of herself to perform concerts. In an interview with People that was published just days before her passing, Parton said that the “avatar performances” were in the “early stages of development,” and would basically allow for her to perform in front of fans without having to be there in person:
“I hate to cancel anything I’m committed to, but I just couldn’t do the shows at the level I would want them to be, and in the way that I know my fans would expect them to be. I definitely plan to do special performances in the future, but I won’t tour anymore like I used to.
But, you know, we’ve been working with some of those companies who make those avatar performances, and we are in early stages of development on that. It is just crazy what technology can do these days. So, I’m hopin’ to launch a big show like that right here in Nashville soon. Isn’t that just wild? I’ll be like George Jones — they used to call him ‘No Show Jones’ — I won’t have to show up in person but I still get paid! Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.”
We’re not sure if those avatar performances will go on now that she’s passed (even though she said she hoped to launch a “big show like that right here in Nashville”), but we at least know that Parton was pretty far along in the process to make it happen.
Further Building Out Dollywood – Her Smoky Mountain Theme Park
In the heart of the Smoky Mountains – an area of Tennessee that meant a whole lot to Dolly Parton – sits a theme park called Dollywood. It sprawls across 160 acres and features over 50 different rides and attractions. The Smoky Mountains theme park draws in over 3.5 million visitors a year, and it’s consistently ranked as one of the best theme parks in the country. In fact, Dollywood has been recognized as Tripadvisor’s top amusement park in the United States three out of the past four years.
The theme parked named after Dolly is currently in the middle of $500 million investment plan to improve, expand, and add onto the existing park. An indoor ride called “Nightflight Expedition,” which combined roller coaster and white-water rafting elements, was the focal point of the investment, and just opened up to Dollywood visitors last week on August 19.
Despite all of her health issues, she was able to make it to the park’s opening day earlier this year. Opening days at Dollywood won’t be the same without her.
Expanding The Imagination Library
Dolly Parton’s most important contribution to the world (other than her music, of course) was undoubtedly her Imagination Library: the charitable organization that provides free books to kids with from their birth until they hit the age of 5. In the 31 years since the country icon launched the organization, it’s gifted over 300,000,000 books to kids in need.
The benefits of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library are currently available in five different countries (United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom), and the “Queen of Country Music” was working to expand the presence of her charity even further.
In lieu of flowers, the family of Parton has asked for donations to be made to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library at www.imaginationlibrary.com, the charity she started in honor of her father, who never learned to read or write.
