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Some very sad news that has just come in from the United States
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Dolly Parton, the queen of country music, has died at the age of 80
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There is a message that has been put out on her social media feed within the last few minutes
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by, I think, her husband, announcing that Dolly Parton has passed away at the age of 80
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It was only four days ago that she said, I still have so many things that I want to achieve
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Dolly Parton had been fighting ill health for a while. She had bounced back on numerous occasions over the course of the last couple of years
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There were all sorts of rumours of her demise that at one point publicly she came out to show were untrue
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But I think this is going to be very, very sad news this evening for a vast number of Americans because in a highly polarised, divided United States, Dolly Parton was a personality that attracted the admiration and genuinely the love, I think, of Americans from across the spectrum
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Dolly Parton the queen of country music dead tonight at the age of 80 Hey everyone My name is Brian Seaver son of Cassie Parton and I am representing the Parton and Owens family today
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announcing the passing of my Aunt Dolly, Rebecca Parton Dean. Sister, sis, Aunt Granny to one generation and Gigi to the next
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This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality
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As her head of security for more than two decades, a role my father Larry held before me
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I have imagined the heaviness of this moment, but haven't truly felt it until now
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It is an honor, an honor that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness
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But sadness lies with us, not with Dolly. Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus
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surely met by Carl, her parents, and countless others who have watched her
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and longed for her to meet them in the heavens. I first went on the road with Dolly as a kid
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getting a taste of the road life in the early 1980s. Dolly opened doors not just for me, but for her entire family to reach the potential we didn't even know was possible
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Dolly also opened doors for generations of singers, songwriters, musicians, and dreamers from every walk of life and across every continent
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By her example, we believed that anything was possible. She never saw a door she couldn't open, and the doors she opened made and changed history
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My family and I have shared a lifetime of beautiful memories with Dolly, but so have you
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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
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Dolly was a farmer, just like her daddy. He farmed the soil, she farmed songs and happiness
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Dolly called me and said she wants to rest in a beautiful bed of plush cotton
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because after a life wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and have some rest
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Rest in peace, Aunt Dolly, Aunt Granny, Gigi. May God bless Dolly Parton, and may God bless you all
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She will always love you. Let's go to Grace, who's in Ealing
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Hello, Grace. Hi. Hi. Hi. Well, as the last caller said, she was religious
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and I find that word a bit nebulous, but she really believed in Jesus. and I know it sounds completely nuts to lots of people
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but I think there is good reason to conclude that he defeated death
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and therefore he gives hope. So I believe and others might believe that she is in a better place right now
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but that obviously doesn't change the fact that it's completely tragic that she's gone because she was clearly someone who was so, so skilled
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and also someone who managed to transcend the kind of political divisiveness
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that we have at the moment. I can't think of many celebrities who were beloved by people across the political spectrum
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because she was able to avoid being partisan and to do really fantastic things I think partly inspired by how Jesus told us to love our neighbours She did such great things for charity She was giving money towards obviously kids books
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towards COVID vaccination research. She was doing really positive things, as well as being incredibly talented
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Yeah, I mean, were you a particular fan of her work, or...? If I'm honest, country music is not my personal genre of choice
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Right. Yes. But I do have such admiration... You used to get into Smooth Country, one of our sister stations
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Maybe I should. I'm more into rock of various sorts. But I have such admiration for musicians who write all their work as well as performing
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and someone who can keep going for so far into their lives
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And I think it's just really inspiring that, like I say, someone was able to do so many positive things, not only to accumulate material wealth
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but also to want to do good in our world and to avoid becoming bogged down
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by some of the arguments that are all around us right now. And I think that, you know
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the last caller said she was very religious and I think sometimes in America
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we see some people claiming to be Christian but actually not demonstrating how Jesus told us to live
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to love our neighbours. Instead, they seem to use that as a cover
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for kind of not being particularly nice. But she didn't do that. She genuinely tried to be compassionate
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and I think that's such a great thing. Thanks very much, Grace. Grace there in Ealing
