Dolly Parton remembered for Christian faith: ‘That’s who I am – that’s what keeps me going’

Dolly Parton was never one to shy away – from performing on stage in front of millions, from speaking her mind or even, when a performance went sideways, from laughing at herself and carrying on.

She also wasn’t one to shy away from discussing her faith, declaring her belief in God, proudly embracing her Christian roots and even joking that she prayed and talked to God so much at home that anyone watching might think she was crazy.

Parton died this week at the age of 80 following an extraordinary life that saw her touch nearly every sphere of society – from music and business to entertainment and philanthropy – while somehow being embraced by seemingly everyone on every side of everything. Her joy was infectious. Her love for people was genuine. She rarely waded into politics or divisive cultural debates – save for a few moments over the decades – and instead made a habit of welcoming anyone who crossed her path.

“The old cynics will say, ‘Oh, there’s no such thing as God.’ Well, that’s your problem. I know there is,” she once said. “…It would scare me to death to think that there was nothing bigger and better than me, that there wasn’t something out there that we could depend on.”

When her husband, Carl Dean, passed away in 2025, Parton expressed her hope in heaven, saying with confidence, “I am a person of faith, and I truly believe that I’m going to see him again someday.”

Parton said in a 2019 interview that her faith was expressed through her everyday life. Although she didn’t go into detail, her philanthropy reflected that conviction.

Her Imagination Library, now in its 31st year, has helped distribute more than 300 million free books to more than 3 million children. In 2020, amid the pandemic, she donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for COVID-19 research. And when wildfires devastated Gatlinburg and East Tennessee in 2016, she launched a fund that provided $1,000 a month for up to six months to families who had lost their homes.

“I grew up in a very open-hearted, faith-based family,” she told Vogue in 2022. “You’re taught to love and be accepting, and to give more than you receive.”

Parton seemed to embrace her faith more publicly in her later years, collaborating with For King & Country on God Only Knows in 2019 and then with Zach Williams on two songs – first There Was Jesus, which won a Grammy in 2021, and later Lookin’ for You. Williams recalled that Parton was wiping tears from her eyes the first time she heard the latter song.

“I’ve just felt like God was calling me into that,” she told Fox News, referencing her multiple CCM collaborations.

Faith, she said in 2016, was her foundation.

“People say, ‘Well, I am surprised that you talk about your faith,’ and I say, ‘Why not? That’s who I am. That’s what keeps me going.’”

Parton never strayed far from her Appalachian roots – growing up as the fourth of 12 children, singing about Jesus in a small country church long before anyone outside the region knew her name. She grew up, she said in 2016, knowing that “Jesus loves me.”

Her mother, she recalled in 2019, believed God had a special purpose for her life – a conviction Parton carried with her from childhood into adulthood.

“I never let go of that,” she said. “I always felt responsible to God that I was supposed to be doing something for God. I still feel like that, and I’m still doing it, trying to. Sinning all the way, but trying my best, and asking forgiveness seventy times seven.”