The Empire State Building lit up in “pink sparkle” at 9:25 p.m. Tuesday to honor Dolly Parton.
The country music legend died Tuesday after a secret and brief battle with cancer, her team confirmed. She was 80 years old.
Shortly after the news broke, the Empire State Building’s official Instagram account announced the special lighting. “Dolly was a global cultural icon whose seven-decade career reached generations of fans,” the message read.
“Beyond entertainment, Dolly leaves a significant philanthropic legacy through the Dollywood Foundation and Imagination Library, which has provided hundreds of millions of books to children worldwide,” the building’s account continued. “At Nine-Two-Five tonight, we celebrate Dolly and her legacy 🩷,” they concluded, referencing her 1980 workplace comedy and hit song “9 to 5.”
When the clock struck 9:25 p.m., the NYC landmark shared a photo of the moment to Instagram Stories.
Tributes poured in from across the entertainment world, including from Parton’s “9 to 5” co-stars. Lily Tomlin, 85, took to Instagram with a throwback photo from the film’s premiere at New York City’s Sutton Theater in 1980. “No words…💔,” Tomlin wrote.
Jane Fonda, 87, penned a lengthy homage of her own on social media, noting she was “devastated” by the death. “I never knew anyone like her,” Fonda wrote. “She was simultaneously a naughty, playful southern gal from the hollows of Tennessee and a deep, soulful thinker who could see through people right down to their true selves.”
Fonda added more about her friend’s multifaceted spirit. “She was many things…lyricist, songstress, player of many instruments, writer, prankster, visionary, loyal friend, who’d never go to bed before she and her friends had laughed so hard they’d have to cross their legs,” she shared.
Parton’s publicity team said that at her request, her funeral will consist of “a small, private service for immediate family.” reports said that Parton will be laid to rest beside her late husband, Carl Dean, at Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Nashville.
In the viral moment that first signaled the scale of loss felt by fans, Parton’s nephew and head of security, Bryan Seaver, posted an emotional video announcing her death. “Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus,” he said. “Surely met by Carl, her parents, and countless others who have watched her and longed for her to meet them in the heavens.”
Dean, Parton’s husband of nearly 60 years, preceded her in death. The couple married in 1966 and maintained a famously private relationship throughout her decades in the spotlight.
The “Jolene” singer’s Imagination Library, launched in 1995, has distributed hundreds of millions of books to children across multiple countries. Her Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, opened in 1986 and remains a major tourism destination.
Parton’s team has not announced any public memorial events beyond the private family service.
PAGES: