Dolly Parton, the legendary singer, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur and philanthropist whose extraordinary talent, joyful spirit and enormous heart made her one of the most beloved figures in American culture, has died at the age of 80 .

Over a remarkable career spanning more than six decades, Parton transcended genres, generations and divides. A gifted and prolific songwriter, she wrote thousands of songs, including hits like “Jolene,” “9 to 5” and “I Will Always Love You.” She sold more than 100 million records and was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Her work in film and television, her business ventures—including her theme park and resort, Dollywood—and her far-reaching philanthropy built a legacy that extended well beyond entertainment.

Born into poverty as one of 12 children in rural Tennessee, Parton never forgot where she came from. Her childhood experiences became the inspiration for some of her most meaningful work, including “Coat of Many Colors,” the autobiographical song—which was also made into a TV movie and a children’s book—about a coat her mother made for her from scraps of fabric and the bullying she endured when she proudly wore it to school.

Parton also used her success to help others, creating the Dollywood Foundation in 1988. Among the causes closest to her heart was childhood literacy. Inspired by her father, who could not read or write, she founded the Imagination Library , a book gifting program that grew from serving children in her home county of Sevier, Tennessee, into a global initiative that has provided hundreds of millions of free books to young children.

Parton’s philanthropy encompassed much more than literacy : over the years, she and her foundation have donated millions of dollars toward a range of causes, including reducing school dropout rates in Sevier county, education scholarships, animal protection, aid for hurricane and fire victims, COVID-19 research and pediatric disease research. In 2022, she was awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy.

Parton was also a trailblazer for women. In 1980, she starred alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in the movie 9 to 5 , a groundbreaking comedy that confronted sexism, sexual harassment and inequality in the workplace. In addition to being adapted into a popular TV series starring Parton’s sister, 9 to 5 was made into a Tony-nominated musical with music and lyrics written by Parton.

I had the great pleasure of interviewing Parton in 2016 about many of these highlights from her career and philanthropy. What came through in our conversation was everything people loved about her: her warmth and humor, but also her thoughtfulness, resilience, faith, generosity and profound belief in our capacity to make life better for one another.

We talked about what it means to be successful, overcoming adversity, staying true to yourself, giving back, maintaining hope in difficult times and what she believed the world needed most.

As we remember Dolly Parton and her life and legacy, it seems especially fitting to return to some of her own timeless words of wisdom. Here are some of the lessons and insights she shared with me.

Parton's childhood experience of being mocked for her handmade coat became, for her, a larger lesson about accepting ourselves and one another. “We’re not all supposed to be the same,” she told me. The message she wanted children in particular to understand was about “accepting people and their differences and that it’s okay to be who you are. You should never be ashamed of yourself, your family, your religion, no matter what. That’s who you are.”

Later in our conversation, when I asked Parton the most valuable lesson she had learned in her life, she returned to that idea and told me that one of her guiding principles was the saying “To thine own self be true.”

“I really think if you know who you are and you can come to terms with that, accept that and love that, and if you can understand your talents, what your gifts may be and how to maybe develop them or at least how to pray about trying to get some strength and some encouragement and some insight on how to deal with it, I just think you really have to know who you are.”

She added, “So I think if you’re comfortable with yourself and know yourself, you’re going to shine and radiate and other people are going to be drawn to you. And by doing that I think you can do a lot for people because you’ll have a lot of help because people want to be around you.”

On What It Really Means To Be Successful

Parton grew up with very little materially, but she told me her childhood taught her something important about the difference between money and genuine wealth. “You can make all the money in the world, but if you’re not happy, you’re not a success.”

For Parton, success was also about using what she had been given to help others. “I really measure success in how you deal with the money you make, how you give back with the fame you have. Just like my little Imagination Library: one of the biggest and most important charities of my whole life is something I believe in based on the fact that my own daddy couldn’t read and write, but he was a smart, smart man.”

And, ultimately, she said, “I feel successful in thinking that I’m doing something good. I’m giving back, I’m not just taking. And I’m loving it. I’m happy doing it. I remember to remember all the things that mattered to me then—they matter to me now. I’ve made it a point not to ever forget who I was, who I am.”

Parton believed that people fortunate enough to have a platform have a responsibility to use it and that philanthropy should come from an authentic place. “I think as a celebrity, when you get in a position to help, you should. But you should also actually invest in things that are personal to you that you can be passionate about.”

For Parton, one of those deeply personal causes was childhood literacy and her work with the Imagination Library. “You can’t get enough books to enough children,” she told me.

When I asked Parton what continued to give her energy and inspiration after decades of making music and performing, her answer was characteristically simple: “I love what I do. That gives me energy. I love my fans, and I love the love they give me back—that creates energy. Nothing to me is more special than when I’m out on stage and look out there and I see all those fans that really, really seem to be touched by what I’m doing. They’re laughing with me, they’re talking with me, they’re listening.”

Parton also saw her work as a way to uplift others. “I ask God all the time to let me say and do and be something to uplift people and to really let Him shine through what I do.”

She also spoke about how deeply she wanted to continue doing the work she loved. “I’ve never gotten tired of it, and I won’t ever retire,” she said. “As long as I can do it, I plan to continue to perform and to sing and to write—and just do whatever I can to make the fans happy and myself happy.”

On 9 to 5 and Women’s Progress

The 1980 movie 9 to 5 was a huge box office and cultural success that Parton told me she was honored to be a part of. She said, “It’s about women in the workplace—equal pay for equal work and all that. And it was a controversial idea at the time, but a necessary one, and I was just proud to be part of that.” She also wrote and performed the film’s title song, which became one of her biggest hits.

The film was inspired in part by the work of 9to5 , an organization founded by women office workers in 1973 to fight workplace discrimination and inequality. When developing the film, Jane Fonda met with members of the organization and drew on their experiences.

Reflecting on the movie's continued relevance, Parton explained, “The fact is that we’ve come a long way. We’ve still got a long way to go, but I really think we broke some really great ground as women, and I’d really like to think that that little movie really has done a lot to further that cause.”

On Finding Strength Through Adversity

When I asked Parton where she found strength, hope and purpose in difficult times, she spoke openly about the faith that sustained her throughout her life. “I really lean on God for everything,” she told me. “I think that the key to my success as far as holding myself together is that I believe in something greater than myself.”

Her faith, she said, gave her both strength and direction: “I believe in God and I believe that strength comes from that.”

Parton was known for her positive outlook, and she talked about the ways she personally tried to hold onto that optimism, even during challenging times.

“You’ve got to try to be happy, just like some people work at being miserable,” she told me. “I was born with a happy heart. I want things to be good because it just kills me when things are not good. And if I wake up in the mornings and find there’s something going wrong, I try my best to see what I can do to make it better by the end of the day, and I pray hard about it. I work hard at it. And I just try to keep a good positive attitude.”

For Parton, that often meant focusing on what she could do to make a difficult situation a little better. “You can’t change everything, but you can change some things,” she said.

And she believed helping someone else could help ease our own experience of hardship. “You can do something to lift someone else’s burden. Even when yours are too hard to carry, if you try to help somebody with theirs, yours don’t seem as bad.”

On Creating a Better Future

Parton never denied the serious issues in the U.S. and the world, but she maintained an extraordinary faith in people and in our ability to work toward improving things. “I know we are a great country. I know we go through our ‘things,’ [but] I know we’ll rise above it. And I pray all the time that God will bring us together and let us try a little harder.”

“People give me hope,” she told me. “I think we just need to try to do a little better.”

Rather than feeling powerless in the face of enormous problems, she believed change began within the circles immediately around us. “We could do a whole lot better by just kind of changing a lot of things within our own circle, in the space that we work and live in. If we tried a little harder, if we had enough circles going on, it would be a circle of love and we could kind of put it all together and make it one big thing ”

And, she said, “I do know that we personally could do a lot to change the future if we wanted to.”

On What The World Needs Most

Perhaps nothing Parton told me feels more resonant today than her response when I asked her this question: What does the world most need right now? “Well, I wish I had written that song ‘What the World Needs Now Is Love.’ I didn’t, but that’s a great song. I still believe that what we need more than anything now is love—a little bit more acceptance, understanding, forgiveness, listening instead of just talking.”

One line from her response has always stayed with me: “We’re not hard of hearing, we’re just hard of listening .” She continued, “So I think we need to try a little harder to get inside the hearts and minds of other people.”

Those words feel especially poignant today.

Dolly Parton leaves behind an extraordinary legacy—in her songs, her performances, the countless people who benefited from her generosity and philanthropic work, and the millions who found joy, comfort, strength and inspiration in all she did.

But perhaps part of her legacy can also live in something each of us can carry forward: her belief in being true to ourselves, helping lighten someone else’s burden, listening more closely, giving back when we can, and choosing love.

As Parton told me, “I just think that’s when you’re really successful: when you’ve made a difference and you’re happy.”

To learn more about Dolly Parton’s life and work, visit her official website and the Dolly Parton Imagination Library .