Taylor Swift mourns Dolly Parton: 'True grace and true grit'

Bryan West, Nashville TennesseanWed, August 26, 2026 at 4:22 AM UTC

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Taylor Swift is remembering Dolly Parton as a trailblazer who helped make her own career possible, weeks after the singer and Travis Kelce donated $2 million to Parton's beloved children's literacy program.

"A world without Dolly doesn’t feel possible, real, or right," Swift said in a statement following Parton's death at 80. "But because of the eternally generous way she spent her time on this earth and the countless lives she changed for the better, her legacy will be an everlasting one."

Swift praised Parton as a songwriter, philanthropist and fiercely independent artist who could pair warmth and humor with strength.

"Somehow she was true grace and true grit, all in one dazzling person," Swift said. "She possessed the softest heart when it came to the struggles of others, and a backbone of steel to defend her own self worth as an artist."

The two singers had publicly admired each other for years. In 2022, Parton defended Swift after musician Damon Albarn questioned whether Swift wrote her own songs, praising her as a songwriter and artist who knew what she wanted from her career.

Swift later described Parton as a model of reinvention, storytelling and longevity.

Their connection took on another dimension in July, when Swift and Kelce donated $2 million to Parton's Imagination Library as part of a larger round of charitable giving surrounding their marriage.

Parton started the Imagination Library in 1995 to mail free, age-appropriate books each month to children from birth to age 5.

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After learning of the couple's gift, Parton thanked them publicly, saying she was "blown away and overjoyed" by the donation and praising their commitment to giving back.

Swift referenced that work directly in her tribute, thanking Parton "for the millions of books she provided children all over the world so that they might fall in love with stories the way she did."

But one of Swift's most personal acknowledgments came as she considered the path Parton carved for younger women who wanted careers of their own.

She expressed gratitude "for the tightropes she walked so that young girls like me could grow up dreaming of joining the circus too."

Swift closed her statement with a final message to the country music legend.

"Dolly," she said at the end, "I'll think of you each step of the way."

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Taylor Swift mourns Dolly Parton: 'True grace and true grit'

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