Los Angeles, California – Taylor Swift honored Dolly Parton in a touching statement after the legendary country star’s death.
In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, the Grammy-winner expressed that a world without the Jolene hitmaker “doesn’t feel possible, real, or right” after the icon’s family confirmed her passing in Nashville at the age of 80.
“But because of the eternally generous way she spent her time on this earth and the countless lives she changed for the better, her legacy will be an everlasting one,” Taylor shared.
“She was truly the gift that kept on giving. Dolly gave us someone to look up to while encouraging us to be who we are as individuals,” the Love Story artist continued.
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“Somehow she was able to give us her lessons about the world gently and honestly, simultaneously, and oftentimes hilariously.”
Taylor hailed the 9 to 5 singer as “true grace and true grit, all in one dazzling person.”
But Taylor wasn’t done praising her idol.
“She possessed the softest heart when it came to the struggles of others, and a backbone of steel to defend her own self worth as an artist,” the Cruel Summer singer noted.
“Along with her other fans, I am so grateful for all of it. For the melodies and lyrics she wrote that thawed even the coldest hearts. For the millions of books she provided children all over the world so that they might fall in love with stories the way she did,” Tay continued.
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She concluded by thanking the icon “for the tightropes she walked so that young girls like me could grow up dreaming of joining the circus too. Dolly, I’ll think of you each step of the way.”
On Tuesday, the Steel Magnolias star’s nephew Bryan Seaver announced her death in an Instagram video while a rep for the late legend has confirmed with the People that Dolly died following a “brief battle with cancer.”
