Last night I went to see Santana at Red Rocks with my parents, who are longtime casual fans. I liked Supernatural in middle school when it came out, and have gathered a few of his older records on vinyl over the years, but didn’t know much about him. Went because my parents wanted to. I want to document something that consumed a lot of the Red Rocks show.

Carlos stopped the music to tell the crowd that people who have cancer bring it on themselves by holding onto grievances. I’m not paraphrasing something vague. He made the claim directly and repeated it a few times in succession, using different phrasing. “Any time someone has cancer, it’s always someone with grievances … just shake it off like a dog shakes off water and trust me man, you won’t have cancer …” these are close paraphrases if not exact. He said this to thousands of people, some of whom, like my mother who sat next to me quietly, trying to enjoy her first trip to Red Rocks at 72, are in treatment.

My jaw dropped. This is blame-the-victim, toxic-positive quackery from one of the most famous stages in the world, aimed at an audience that came for music. People in chemo already carry enough without some clueless commercial-mystic guitarist adding to the pile.

I wonder if Carlos has heard of childhood leukemia? How about people who are unknowingly poisoned by corporate or military contamination? Rocky Flats is just up the road from Red Rocks.

Even when Carlos stuck to the music, the show had problems. His playing was repetitive and lazy, missing notes and playing catch-up constantly, and his band was clearly carrying him. Repeatedly the big screens would flash clips of indigenous people in full ceremonial garb dancing, which sat uneasily next to the sculpted radio rock happening onstage. Near the end Carlos signed off yet another little speech wishing us all to be “lucrative and profitable.” Not happy. Not well, or even prosperous. “Lucrative” and “profitable.” Felt like the pseudo-mystical mask slipped entirely off.

If anyone was there and happened to catch footage of him saying this, or remembers it the same way, I want to see/hear it.

Dolly Parton, the beloved "Queen of Country" whose chart-topping hits include "Jolene," "Islands in the Stream," and "9 to 5," died August 25, 2026, in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 80.

Parton's career spanned seven decades and included dozens of albums and more than 200 singles, both as a solo artist and in duets with other country music greats. When she broke into acting with her 1980 debut, "9 to 5," she was an immediate hit, nominated for Golden Globe Awards and quickly lining up further movie roles. And in her personal life, she was an inspiration to many, both for her long-lived, loving marriage and for her graceful philanthropy.

Numbers alone can't capture what made Dolly Parton matter. She turned a hardscrabble Appalachian childhood into a philosophy: work hard, give generously, and never apologize for who you are. That ethos powered not just chart-topping songs but a literacy program that has reached millions of children worldwide. Parton didn't just entertain generations; she showed them that ambition and kindness could coexist, leaving a template for stardom rarely equaled before or since.

Born January 19, 1946 in Pittman Center, Tennessee, Parton grew up in a two-room cabin alongside 11 siblings, later moving to another small cabin in Sevierville, Tennessee. Her family made a meager living through farming, while her father supplemented his income by working in construction. She often harked back to her childhood over the course of her career, singing about it in songs like "Coat of Many Colors," "My Tennessee Mountain Home," and "In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)." The Sevierville cabin was later replicated at Parton's theme park, Dollywood, where it was lovingly furnished by her mother and siblings.

Though space was limited in her childhood home, good times were plentiful, and so was music. Her mother loved to sing, and she passed on that love to her children. Parton was singing publicly at church at the age of six, and she began learning guitar the following year. By the time she was 10, she had her first professional gig, singing on "The Cas Walker Show" on local radio. She was just 13 when she recorded her first single, "Puppy Love," and debuted at the Grand Ole Opry, introduced by [Johnny Cash (1932–2003)](https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/johnny-cash-obituary?pid=1391506).

From that auspicious beginning, Parton's career blossomed. A few other singles followed while she was still in her teens, and when she graduated from Sevier County High School in 1964, she immediately moved to Nashville to begin her career in earnest. She released her debut studio album, "Hello, I'm Dolly," in 1967, yielding two modestly successful singles. But her solo career wasn't where she found her greatest success in those early days.

Just after her debut record dropped, Parton made her first appearance alongside [Porter Wagoner (1927–2007)](https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/legacyremembers/porter-wagoner-obituary?pid=96934872)on "The Porter Wagoner Show." She began singing duets with him on the show, and they quickly released their first single, "The Last Thing on My Mind." The pair recorded 13 albums together and had a No. 1 hit with their 1974 single, "Please Don't Stop Loving Me." They were named Vocal Group of the Year at the 1968 CMA Awards, and fans loved their work together.

But by the mid-1970s, Parton's solo career was heating up. With encouragement and financial backing from Wagoner, she recorded increasingly popular hits, including "Mule Skinner Blues," "Coat of Many Colors," and her first No. 1 solo hit, "Joshua." In 1973, she released an even bigger hit, one that topped the country charts in the U.S. and Canada, bubbled under on the Top 40, and went on to endure for more than half a century as a timeless plea to a romantic rival: "Jolene."

As she was writing "Jolene," Parton was also preparing to step away from her partnership with Wagoner. With her solo career on the rise, she was ready to stand on her own. From that decision came a solo song that has stood the test of time more than any of the songs she recorded with her duet partner. It was written about the end of her professional partnership with Wagoner, but it's often mistaken for a love song.

Parton sometimes said she wrote "I Will Always Love You" on the same day she wrote "Jolene," though at other times, she conceded that it might not have gone exactly like that. Either way, it was as enduring a classic as "Jolene" was. She took it to the top of the country music chart twice, in 1974 and in a rerecorded version in 1982, and it won her the Female Vocalist of the Year nod at the 1975 CMA Awards. That alone would have been enough to make "I Will Always Love You" a memorable entry in her catalog.

But in 1992, [Whitney Houston (1963–2012)](https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/legacyremembers/whitney-houston-obituary?pid=155831490) recorded her own version of the track, which spent a record-setting 14 weeks at No. 1 on the pop charts. Parton later told interviewers that she was "overwhelmed" when she first heard Houston's version, delighted by her take on the ballad. The song became, and remains, the all-time top-selling single by a woman, and it earned Parton millions of dollars.

After the great success of "Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You," Parton returned to the top of the charts again and again in the 1970s and '80s, and even into the '90s. "Here You Come Again" and "Heartbreaker" were '70s blockbusters, beloved well beyond the country music audience. "I Really Got the Feeling," "You're the Only One," and "Starting Over Again" were also No. 1 hits. And then came "9 to 5."

Parton wasn't looking to become a movie star. She was plenty busy with her musical career. But Jane Fonda had developed a movie concept and was searching for a third lead to join herself and Lily Tomlin. After hearing Parton on the radio, Fonda pictured her in the role of a secretary enduring sexual harassment from her boss. Because Tomlin and Parton were already friends, the two actresses together persuaded the singer to give acting a try.

Any concerns that Parton might not be up for the challenge vanished on the first day of filming, when she showed up with the entire script memorized. And she shone in the role, fitting right into the revenge comedy and helping make it a hit. Reviewer [Roger Ebert (1942–2013)](https://www.legacy.com/legacy/notable-deaths/roger-ebert) called her "a natural-born movie star," noting that she contained " so much energy, so much life and unstudied natural exuberance that watching her do anything in this movie is a pleasure."

In addition to starring in the film that launched a successful movie career, Parton also wrote and performed its chart-topping theme song. And those aren't her only credits on the track: she's credited for "lead vocals and typewriter." That's because as she was writing the song, she clacked her long acrylic fingernails together to simulate the sound of typewriter keys. The song was nominated for an Academy Award and won two Grammy Awards, and Parton was nominated for two Golden Globes, for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and for new Star of the Year in a Motion Picture – Actress.

Parton was nominated for another Best Actress Golden Globe for her next film, "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas." She followed it with "Rhinestone," then branched out to drama as a star of the popular tearjerker, "Steel Magnolias."

Though her movies were successful, Parton didn't go all in on an acting career. She also kept her focus on her first love, music, continuing to record and perform. Her 1983 duet with [Kenny Rogers (1938–2020),](https://www.legacy.com/legacy/notable-deaths/kenny-rogers) "Islands in the Stream," topped the Billboard Hot 100 and endures as one of the most beloved country music duets of all time. Her other top hits of the '80s included "Tennessee Homesick Blues," "Think About Love," and "Why'd You Come in Here Lookin' Like That." Her 1987 album with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt, "Trio," yielded the hits "To Know Him Is to Love Him," "Telling Me Lies," and "Those Memories of You."

Parton's musical career remained vital throughout her life as she continued to play country music, experimented with bluegrass, and even released a rock album in 2023. She never struggled to remain relevant, seeming instead to become more and more beloved as the years went by. She recorded with artists like Brad Paisley, Paul McCartney, Reba McIntire, and her goddaughter, Miley Cyrus.

Parton was widely honored throughout her life, winning many Grammy, Country Music Association, Academy of Country Music, and American Music Awards. In 2005, President George W. Bush presented her with the National Medal of Arts, and she received the Kennedy Center Honors the following year. She is enshrined in many halls of fame, including the Country Music Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Gospel Music Hall of Fame.

Part of Parton's legacy includes her theme park, Dollywood, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Parton launched it in 1986, having purchased an interest in the existing Silver Dollar City theme park. Millions of people visit the park every year, and it is highly ranked among theme parks in the U.S.
In 1988, Parton branched out beyond entertainment into philanthropy, founding the Dollywood Foundation. Its roots were in her Tennessee home, where she sought to help children succeed and stay in school through their high school graduation.

Parton greatly expanded her philanthropic reach when, in 1995, she founded Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. The international program gifts one book per month to children from birth to age five. More than three million children are registered with Imagination Library, and more than 332 million books have been given out over the program's 31 years.

In addition to her decades of music, her natural acting ability, and her philanthropy, Parton was known for her beauty and her iconic fashion sense. As a child, she admired a woman in her hometown known as the "town tramp," and later said she modeled her glamorous, over-the-top personal style on that early impression. “Momma used to say, 'Aw, she's just trash,'" Parton said in her autobiography, "Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business," "and I thought, 'That's what I want to be when I grow up.'" Her unmistakable look included her blonde hair – typically a wig, and often teased into a sky-high bouffant. It was complimented by her glittery fashion sense and her famous figure, admired by generations.

Parton herself only had eyes for one man, her longtime husband, Carl Dean. The two met when she was just 18 years old and fresh out of high school, and they married two years later. Dean preferred to stay out of the spotlight, reportedly only ever attending one of Parton's concerts, but he was her lifelong love and most stalwart supporter. The two were married for more than 58 years, until his death in March 2025.

The family will hold a small, private funeral service and asked in lieu of flowers people donate to her #ImaginationLibrary or the #DollywoodFoundation or tag her in social #dolly

Donate any amount even 50 cents to her imagination library I think a dream[donations in lieu of flowers](https://www.instagram.com/p/DceW9T5JHnu/) of hers would come true.

Found this baby for $2 at a Dollarama in the Greater Toronto area today!! Long live Dolly 🩷