Musician Dolly Parton dies at 80

**Will Chalk** (0:00)
This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.
I'm Will Chalk, and in the early hours of Wednesday the 26th of August, these are our main stories. Tributes are being paid to the Queen of Country and Western Music, Dolly Parton, who's died at the age of 80 The head of Instagram, one of Meta's most popular platforms, denies encouraging employees to keep negative information away from the public at a high stakes trial in the US. And the UN and Red Cross raised the alarm about so-called killer robots, autonomous drones that could use AI to attack and kill humans. Also in this podcast, what can the jailing of a Chinese artist tell us about censorship there and...

**Angus Kerr** (0:45)
They've declared it being absolutely fantastic and all the rest of it, because that old could have lost its alcohol content.

**Will Chalk** (0:53)
How it feels to buy a whisky barrel for less than $200 and find out it's worth a fortune.
We're starting with one of the most important musicians of the past century, American singer Dolly Parton, who's died of cancer at the age of 80 From poverty in rural Tennessee, she went on to become a global superstar, selling more than 100 million records, writing a whopping 3,000 songs in a career that spanned six decades. There are dozens of hits we could name, but arguably the biggest ones are 9 to 5, I Will Always Love You, Jolene. Her family released this video with her nephew Brian Siever sharing the news.

**Brian Siever** (1:38)
My family and I have shared a lifetime of beautiful memories with Dolly. So have you. She has always been on your television, your record player, your CD, and on your phone playlist becoming an extended part of your family, whether you liked it or not. Our family and the team she has entrusted with her legacy will work diligently to ensure her spirit will live with us forever.
Dolly was a farmer, just like her daddy. He farmed the soil, she farmed songs and happiness. 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.
Rest in peace, Aunt Dolly, Aunt Granny, Gigi. May God bless Dolly Parton and may God bless you all. She will always love you.

**Will Chalk** (2:26)
Brian and Siva there. Well, since the news broke of her death, fans have been gathering in various places, including in Los Angeles, where Dolly Parton was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1984 Our correspondent Shyma Khalil spoke to me from there.

**Shyma Khalil** (2:43)
It's a big gathering at Dolly Parton's star here on Hollywood Boulevard. The star is barely visible, I tell you, because it is almost covered entirely now with bouquets of flowers, with pictures of Dolly Parton, with at tributes and messages. One is saying goodbye to our beloved American icon. Another one saying we will always love you, Dolly. And there's a box of Dolly Parton's sugar cookies, pink and red. Very Dolly Parton style. So many fans have been gathering around that star.

**SPEAKER_5** (3:13)
I mean, this woman dedicated her whole life to bringing joy, comfort, happiness to the entire world, basically.

**SPEAKER_6** (3:22)
She could go into her own heart and write about the human experience, whether it be joy or sorrow or heartache or vindictiveness.

**Shyma Khalil** (3:32)
And I will say that in a country that is so divided at the moment, Dolly Parton has been this really rare unifying figure across generations, across political affiliations. You see that all the way from President Donald Trump, who talked about the loss, about the flag being taken to half-mast, the reactions from Hollywood, from celebrities, from the music industry, from the film industry, and from the fans here on the street where I'm standing. There is just a common connection to her, a common love, because of who she was and what she represented.

**Will Chalk** (4:07)
Yeah, I mean, I was lucky enough to see Dolly Parton at Glastonbury Festival here in the UK in 2014, when I think she was in her...

**Janet Cook** (4:13)
I'm so jealous of you, God.

**Will Chalk** (4:15)
Well, I think she was in her late 60s, but the number of teenagers, young people in the crowd, something about her, isn't there, that speaks to people, whatever generation they are.

**Shyma Khalil** (4:25)
And I was really surprised. I was speaking to a family who have come here from the UK, actually, a father and two of his daughters who were in their teens.
I thought I was just going to speak to the dad, to Simon about Dolly Parton. And the two girls came up and said, no, we want to speak about her as well. And one of them said, I love her because of the causes that she has adopted. And another one said, I just love her music. There is something about her, about how she comes across, about how authentic she is. And you can feel it because a father who's in his 40s or 50s is feeling the shock just as strongly as his teenage daughters. A young 21 year old tells me how fun it was to dance to her music, to sing to her music, but also how he felt every word when she was talking about how sad or lonely she is. He felt that that was real. And I think that really crosses generations.