Dolly Parton granted access to her deathbed to only one person: her longtime wig and makeup artist, Cheryl Riddle.
The “9 to 5” singer, 80, died on Aug. 25 after a secret battle with cancer, sources said. Parton had been hospitalized five days earlier at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville with what were described as kidney and autoimmune issues.
Parton’s dying wish was that no one see her in her final state, the sources said. She did not want anyone to remember her that way. However, she made an exception for Riddle so that she could be made up after death. The 10-time Grammy winner had an open casket, making Riddle’s work especially consequential.
One other person saw Parton before she passed. Bryan Seaver, the singer’s nephew and recently fired security head, visited his aunt the day before her death. During that visit, Parton told him she wanted him to be the one to announce her passing.
Seaver wrote the announcement speech and recorded it at her studio. It was shared on Parton’s social media page on Aug. 25, the day she died.
Parton’s siblings were reportedly denied entry to see her during her final days. The restrictions around her deathbed were consistent with her long-standing concern for her public image, even in death.
The “I Will Always Love You” singer was laid to rest in a private funeral service in Nashville, Tennessee, three days after her death. She was entombed at Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Nashville beside her beloved husband, Carl Dean, who died in March 2025 at age 82.
Parton had spoken in recent months about struggling to take care of herself after Dean’s death. “I didn’t take care of myself,” she said.com, adding that she “let a lot of things go” following his passing in March.
The circumstances of Parton’s final days were complicated by a wave of AI-generated images that circulated online before and after her death, including fabricated “deathbed photos” that prompted her to clarify in earlier health scares that she was not near death. “I ain’t dead yet!” she responded to one such episode, according to reports at the time.
The fake images and phony “final wish” narratives created confusion around her actual condition in her final months, with some outlets noting that AI exploitation of celebrity death rumors had become increasingly common.
Parton’s precise management of her posthumous appearance—down to the single person authorized to prepare her body—extended a career-long practice of meticulous self-presentation. From her signature wigs to her elaborate stage costumes, she had always maintained tight control over how the world saw her.
The private funeral and restricted access to her deathbed ensured that control continued until her burial beside Dean, with whom she shared nearly 60 years of marriage.