Celebrity4 min(s) read
Dolly Parton's great-niece has shared a heartbreaking tribute to the late Country music legend after she was laid to rest.
As previously reported, the singer died last week at the age of 80 following a private battle with an unspecified form of cancer.
News of Parton's death left fans around the world devastated, with it also being announced that she would be laid to rest in a private funeral for her family and loved ones, which took place on Friday (August 28).
The '9-5' singer's great-niece, Lainey Mae Parton, took to Instagram to share some memories alongside some sweet photos.
Lainey, who is the daughter of Parton's nephew, Clint Warren Parton, referred to the singer as 'granny'.
She wrote: "This is a really hard post for me to make. 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. 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.
"Most people can think of at least one bad memory with everyone in their family. I honestly can’t think of one with her."
She continued: "Because she couldn’t have kids of her own, she always made us feel like we were hers. She loved us that way, and I’ll forever be grateful for that.
"One memory I’ll always hold onto is when she asked me to sing with her on her @smokymountaindna album. I was a freshman in high school and SO nervous. But she had a way of making me feel like nothing bad could happen. She made me feel safe, confident, and like I belonged right there beside her.
"As I got older, she continued to believe in me. When I told her I wanted to go to beauty school, she never questioned why I wasn’t going to college. She told me she couldn’t see me doing anything else. She financially supported me through school and helped me get my career started. She didn’t just tell me to chase my dreams, she helped me get there."
Lainey added: "I’m so thankful I said yes to the opportunities and memories I got to share with her as my Aunt Dolly, including being in a movie with her. I’m so glad I have those moments to look back on now. I have things I can watch, hear, and hold onto when I miss her.
"It still doesn’t feel real that she’s gone. I’m going to miss her voice, her laugh, her hugs, and just knowing she was there. I’m even going to miss those 4 AM calls, and I’d give anything to see her name pop up on my phone again."
She thanked the public for their condolences and support, adding: "I feel incredibly lucky that I got to call her my granny.
"Thank you for always believing in me, loving me, and making me feel like I could do anything. I love you, Granny. Always."
In the announcement video shared after Parton's death, her nephew and former head of security, Bryan Seaver, revealed: "Dolly called me and said she wants to rest in a beautiful bed of plush cotton because after a life wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and have some rest.”
Now, Parton has been laid to rest next to her beloved husband, Carl Thomas Dean, in a mausoleum at the Woodlawn Memorial Park in Nashville.
Though the couple was married for 58 years until Dean's death in 2025, the world only ever saw small glimpses of Parton's husband, who remained out of the limelight.
They'd met in Nashville in 1964, shortly after Parton moved there to pursue a music career, with her telling Interview Magazine in 1984: "I graduated on a Friday night, went to Nashville on a Saturday morning with dirty clothes and I went to a Laundromat looking for anything but love.
"I had just left two boyfriends back home and I wasn’t looking to get involved because I had gone to Nashville to really get started in the business. I met him at the Wishy Washy and he’s been wishy washy ever since."
Dean owned and operated an asphalt-paving and road-building business, while supporting Parton from the sidelines as she chased her dreams.
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