"After bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her Earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones," her publicist, Marcel Pariseau, said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Our beloved Dolly Parton spent her life and career bringing joy, laughter, hope and integrity into everything she touched. Her unmatched generosity reached the lives of countless people whom she would never meet, yet she was always there to offer a helping hand."
Days earlier, Parton told People she was dealing with unspecified health issues but planned to keep working.
With classic songs including Coat of Many Colors, Jolene and I Will Always Love You, Parton became one of the best-selling female artists of all time, with over 100 million records sold. She won 11 Grammy awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Parton's wholesome personality, combined with her towering blonde hairdos, flamboyant costumes and giddy delight at holding centre stage, endeared her to Americans of all backgrounds and helped introduce country music to international audiences.
Over the years Parton hosted a TV variety show, starred in movies, and even created a theme park, Dollywood, a popular tourist spot in her home state of Tennessee - all in addition to her lauded work as a songwriter.
But the quality that gave her enduring star power was her ability to connect with people.
Coming from a self-described "dirt-poor" family, Parton often stood in as a symbol of the working-class American and regularly threw her name and money behind causes she believed in.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Parton donated $US1 million to vaccine research at Vanderbilt University in 2020, making her an early sponsor of Moderna's vaccine development.
She conducted a literacy program for preschool children across the United States, as well as in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland, and provided scholarships to high school students in her native Tennessee.
It was this ability to stay true to her roots, combined with her drive to work hard and her non-partisanship, that fuelled her appeal among conservatives and liberals in a politically polarised America.
Dolly Rebecca Parton was born on January 19, 1946, in Pittman Center, Tennessee, and grew up in a one-room cabin in nearby Locust Ridge. One of 12 children of tobacco farmer Robert Lee Parton, her difficult childhood gave credibility to her often personal songs trilled in a distinctive soprano.
Parton got her first real guitar when she was eight and was singing on a local radio station by age 11, and at age 13 was appearing on the Grand Ole Opry, a weekly country music concert in Nashville, Tennessee.
After graduating from high school, she moved to Nashville to pursue a music career and began a famous partnership with country music singer Porter Wagoner, which would include a years-long stint on his TV show and 14 top-ten duets. She penned her hit song I Will Always Love You as a farewell to Wagoner when she decided to pursue a solo career.
On the first day Parton arrived in country music's capital, she met Carl Dean, an asphalt paver.
They would marry two years later, in 1966. Throughout their long marriage, Dean shunned the spotlight and did not tour with her, though he would be a muse for many of her greatest hits, including Jolene, which was inspired by a red-haired bank teller's crush on Dean.
Her own appearance was the object of intense interest. Initially embarrassed, she eventually found the humour in frequent questions about her extravagant dress sense and generous figure.
She also expressed the wish that her appearance would serve to sell, rather than overshadow, her talent.
Her music gained a following not only among the public but also with fellow singers who widely covered her songs - perhaps most famously Whitney Houston's rendition of I Will Always Love You.
Some of Parton's most beloved covers and duets were with her god daughter, American pop star Miley Cyrus, and Cyrus' father, country music star Billy Ray Cyrus.
While Parton was a force on stage and an accomplished vocalist, what set her apart from her peers was her talent with words. Parton wrote every one of her hit songs. All told, she penned an estimated 3000 throughout her life, though she recorded only about 450 of them.
Parton made her movie debut in 1980's 9 to 5, starring alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, with the title tune earning Parton an Oscar nomination for songwriting. She got another Oscar songwriting nomination in 2006 for Travelin' Thru, written for the film Transamerica.
Her other movie acting roles included The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias, Rhinestone and Straight Talk.
Twenty-five of her songs reached No. 1 on the Billboard Country charts and she was a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, receiving its highest honour, the Johnny Mercer Award, in 2007. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
Parton received her first Grammy award in 1978 for her song Here You Come Again. In 1988, she won the People's Choice Award for favourite all-around female entertainer.
