Dolly Parton, Country Music Icon and Global Entertainment Legend, Dies at 80

The singer-songwriter behind “Jolene,” “9 to 5” and “I Will Always Love You” built a seven-decade career spanning country, pop, Hollywood, television, business and philanthropy — becoming one of America’s most enduring cultural figures.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. | Aug. 25, 2026 | Dolly Parton, the rhinestone-clad singer, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur and philanthropist whose extraordinary journey from rural Tennessee poverty to international superstardom made her one of the most recognizable entertainers in American history, has died. She was 80.

Parton died peacefully Tuesday in Nashville, according to a statement from her family. Her nephew Bryan Seaver announced her death in a video shared through Parton’s official social-media account on behalf of the Parton and Owens families. A cause of death was not immediately disclosed.

The announcement brought to a close a remarkable seven-decade career that stretched far beyond country music. Parton became a crossover recording star, Hollywood actress, television personality, producer, businesswoman and philanthropist while maintaining an image and public persona that were unmistakably her own.

Her family remembered a woman whose influence extended well beyond the stage.

“A rhinestone life that shone bright enough for the world to see, Dolly will forever stand as an inspiration not only through her timeless music and prolific songwriting, but also her wit, warmth, and kindness that made us all feel like family,” the family's obituary said.

Parton leaves behind a catalog that became part of the American songbook: “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors,” “9 to 5,” “Here You Come Again,” “Islands in the Stream,” and perhaps most significantly, “I Will Always Love You.”

But her legacy cannot be measured by hit records alone.

From Dollywood and Hollywood to children's literacy programs and international stages, Parton transformed celebrity into an unusually durable cultural institution.

Kennedy Distorts Stat in Celebrating Obesity Drop

In recent public appearances, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said obesity dropped 3% “in the last year” and suggested the Trump administration deserves at least some of the credit. One poll shows obesity falling by about that much — but the decline happened over several years and began well before President Donald Trump’s current term.

And there’s little evidence it’s because of Kennedy’s focus on chronic disease prevention or his push to get Americans to eat better, experts told us.

According to Gallup polling, the rate of obesity among U.S. adults peaked in 2022 and has fallen every year since. The decline started during the Biden administration and has continued under Trump.

Experts also told us that, if obesity is declining, there’s little evidence it’s due to changes in diet or lifestyle. Some said it may be related to a factor Kennedy isn’t highlighting — the rise of new GLP-1 weight loss drugs.

Kennedy — who has made eating “real foods” a core part of his Make America Healthy Again movement and sometimes disparaged GLP-1 drugs in recent years — has trumpeted the purported decline in obesity several times in recent months.

“This year, obesity rates dropped in this country, for the first time in 40 years, by about 3%,” Kennedy said during an Aug. 24 event on childhood nutrition. “Consumption of real foods went up by 7 to 10% this year. And there are many, many other indicia [that] show that what we’re doing is actually working.”

He referenced the same stat while speaking at a community health center in California on Aug. 13.

Trump’s Misleading Crime Drop Claims

In announcing the latest FBI annual report on nationwide crime, President Donald Trump wrongly cast the decline in crime in 2025 as a dramatic turnaround and made misleading claims about the impact of his administration’s policies.

Speaking to an audience of law enforcement officers at the Nassau County police academy on Aug. 14, Trump said that his speech was meant to “celebrate the historic progress our administration is making together with law enforcement partners nationwide to restore law and order in America.” The FBI that day released data collected from local law enforcement agencies showing that both violent and property crime nationwide declined from 2024 to 2025, with the largest one-year drops in the violent crime and murder rates since the FBI began publishing these estimates in 1936.

The president accurately cited those large one-year reductions, but he ran afoul of the facts and available evidence in taking credit for them:

• Trump claimed that the decline happened “because of what the federal government’s doing.” Criminology experts say there are many plausible factors and the exact reasons are unclear.
• He claimed that the U.S. experienced “a horrible four years” of violent crime during the Biden administration. But violent crime fell during the second half of Biden’s presidency and was lower in the last year of Joe Biden’s term compared with Trump’s final year in office.
• Trump vastly overstated the decline in crime since his deployment of National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., Memphis and New Orleans, citing 70% or 80% reductions that don’t match up with police data. Experts also say the troops aren’t the primary reason for crime dropping in those cities.
• The president suggested that an executive order he signed upon taking office in 2025 contributed to a significant decline in police officers dying in the line of duty that year. However, the law enforcement organization that keeps records of such deaths said the decrease was “likely” due to other factors.

Trump’s speech embracing the FBI’s report for 2025 is noteworthy because he previously disparaged the FBI reports as “fake,” “phony,” and “a fraud” when they showed a decline in crime under Biden.

RFK Jr. Falsely Claims New Evidence Supports Splitting MMR Vaccine

Following an executive order that called for breaking up the combination measles, mumps, and rubella, or MMR, vaccine, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that a “recent” study “just came out” that “very strongly supports” the idea. But there’s no evidence of any such credible study, past or present.

In a CNN interview that aired on Aug. 15, Kennedy defended President Donald Trump’s Aug. 10 executive order on childhood vaccines, which, among other things, asked officials to begin pursuing a way to offer single-disease shots. Those vaccines have not been available in the U.S. for nearly two decades. The combination MMR vaccine has been in use for more than 40 years.

The order did not present a scientific reason to split up the shot, but while signing the document, Trump falsely claimed that in contrast to single vaccines, the combination shot is “quite lethal” and that breaking it up “will have a huge impact on autism.” 

The president doubled down the next day, claiming that given separately, the MMR is “fine,” but when combined, the vaccine is “sort of like a nuclear weapon, according to some.”

In the CNN interview, after the host noted that the current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website says there is no evidence showing a benefit to separating out the MMR vaccine, he asked Kennedy who was right — Trump or the CDC.

Kennedy replied that the CDC website “probably is outdated.”

CENTCOM Official Referenced a Secret List of Journalists to “Disregard”; Command Denies Blacklist

The reported exchange intensifies scrutiny of Pentagon media policies as press-freedom advocates question whether military officials are selectively withholding information from critical reporters.

WASHINGTON | U.S. Central Command is facing new questions about its treatment of journalists after a public-affairs employee reportedly warned an investigative reporter that he could be placed on an internal “list of people to disregard.”

The disclosure was reported by The Intercept, which said Richard Allee, identified as an executive assistant in CENTCOM’s public-affairs office, acknowledged the existence of the list during a contentious telephone exchange. CENTCOM subsequently denied maintaining a journalist “blacklist,” leaving conflicting accounts about whether the command formally tracks reporters whose questions or calls officials intend to ignore.

According to The Intercept’s account, Allee warned reporter Nick Turse that repeatedly contacting the command could result in his being added to a “list of people to disregard.” When Turse asked whether such a list existed, Allee reportedly answered affirmatively but declined to identify the journalists or news organizations included.

“It’s not a list that we publicize,” Allee reportedly said.

CENTCOM later disputed that characterization in a written response, stating that the command does not maintain a “blacklist.” The command’s response did not fully explain what Allee meant, whether an informal do-not-engage directory exists or whether personnel receive instructions to avoid responding to particular journalists.

The competing statements raise broader questions about transparency, press access and the military’s responsibility to respond equitably to legitimate news inquiries—particularly during wartime.

Navy Orders Personnel and Families to Scrub Social Media as ‘Epic Vigilance’ Threat Warning Takes Effect

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao directs Sailors, Marines, reservists, civilian employees and military families to hide Department of the Navy ties amid doxing, drone surveillance, cyber threats and suspected physical-security probes.

WASHINGTON | The Department of the Navy has issued an urgent force-protection warning directing personnel and their families to review social media accounts, restrict public access and remove information that could expose their military connections or daily routines.

The Aug. 19 message, titled “Epic Vigilance: Immediate Actions for Force Protection and Personal Security,” describes what Navy leaders characterize as a coordinated, multidomain threat campaign targeting Department of the Navy personnel, installations, warships, aircraft and families.

Released as ALNAV 050/26 by Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao, the directive applies broadly to Sailors, Marines, reservists, civilian employees and family members. It warns of online harassment, doxing, uncrewed aircraft surveillance, suspicious activity near installations, attempted physical-security breaches and campaigns intended to test the endurance of security forces.

The Navy’s central message is direct: Personnel and their families should assume that adversaries are collecting publicly available information and combining seemingly harmless details to identify military affiliations, movements and vulnerabilities.

“Adversaries are actively mining this data,” the notice states.

The official ALNAV 050/26 force-protection message does not identify a single triggering incident or name the foreign governments, extremist organizations or individual actors believed to be responsible. Instead, it describes a pattern of activity that naval leaders say has intensified since the beginning of Operation Epic Fury.

ICE Halts Deportation of Fort Bliss Soldier’s Wife After Last-Minute ‘Legal Impediment’

The Honduran national remains detained on the same Army installation where her husband serves, raising questions about due process, military family-care plans and coordination between immigration and defense officials.

EL PASO, Texas | Federal immigration officials halted the deportation of an Army sergeant’s wife after determining that a “legal impediment” prevented her removal, leaving the Fort Bliss military family facing continued separation and uncertainty over what comes next.

Cristy Maryori Villafranca Trejo, a 29-year-old Honduran national, was removed from a scheduled deportation flight after the legal issue arose, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Her claims will now receive consideration through the Justice Department, DHS said.

The department did not publicly identify the legal obstacle, explain when officials discovered it or indicate whether another attempt to remove Villafranca could occur.

DHS said the scheduled deportation was stopped Aug. 17. Her husband, Army Sgt. Hedár Leonel Turcios Juárez, said the incident unfolded during the early morning hours of Tuesday, Aug. 18. Federal officials have not reconciled that discrepancy.

The episode adds another layer of uncertainty to an immigration case that has disrupted the soldier’s household, complicated his child-care arrangements and raised broader questions about how immigration enforcement involving military dependents can affect troop readiness.