Dolly Parton speaks onstage at Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs In Symphony World Premiere at Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville, Tenn., on March 20, 2025. Jason Kempin/Getty Images
Country music legend, actress, and philanthropist Dolly Parton was laid to rest on Friday in a private funeral attended by members of her immediate family.
“This is a really hard post for me to make,” Parton’s great-niece Lainey Parton wrote in a heartfelt tribute on social media on Aug. 29. “I wanted to wait until after my granny was laid to rest yesterday before I tried to put any of this into words.”
“From the time I was little, my granny always had a way of making me feel like I was enough,” Lainey wrote on Instagram. “She never made my dreams feel too big or made me feel like I couldn’t do something. She believed in me before I even knew how to believe in myself.”
Dolly Parton’s connection to her Tennessee roots was also displayed at her final resting place, where her name was engraved prior to her death on a mausoleum plaque with an artistic depiction of the Sevier County cabin where she grew up.
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Following the funeral service, Parton’s family continued honoring her legacy on a much larger stage, when her niece Jada Star performed at the Grand Ole Opry’s tribute concert on Aug. 29 in Nashville.
Star sang “The Orchard,” a song she had recorded with Parton for the 2024 family album “Smoky Mountain DNA: Family, Faith and Fables.” Parton first performed at the Opry at just 13 years old before becoming a longtime member.
“I am walking around in a fog [of] sadness, like all of you have,” Star wrote on Instagram on Aug. 29. “I do not take this honor lightly. I will stand on that stage tonight, the stage she loved so much, and share my song I wrote for her and for my whole family.
“Know that we appreciate every single tribute, message, and kind word you have all shared the past few days,” she continued. “We appreciate all of you.”
When news of funeral arrangements broke last week, Parton’s family encouraged fans and friends to remember her by continuing to share tributes online and, in lieu of flowers, making donations to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, the literacy organization she founded.
