Today, August 25, 2026, we lost one of the greatest songwriters and performers to ever pick up a guitar. Dolly Parton has died at the age of 80. And as someone who writes and makes music myself, this one hits differently. Because Dolly Parton wasn't merely famous. She was a songwriter. She was a musician. She was a storyteller. She was an artist. And she understood something that I think every songwriter eventually has to learn: sometimes the simplest stories are the most powerful ones. Dolly could take heartbreak, poverty, love, jealousy, ambition, loneliness, family and everyday life and turn them into songs that people could understand. That's an incredible gift. Her family announced that she died peacefully in Nashville at age 80. Her death marks the end of a career that lasted roughly six decades and produced some of the most recognizable songs in country and popular music. But I don't really want to write an obituary. I want to talk about the music. Dolly Parton Was ...