Dolly Parton’s family: All about the country legend’s 11 brothers and sisters
Dolly Parton’s family: All about the country legend’s 11 brothers and sisters
Britt HayesTue, August 25, 2026 at 9:51 PM UTC
0
Dolly Parton with her siblingsCredit: Dolly Parton/Instagram
Dolly Parton, the beloved country music icon behind “I Will Always Love You” and “9 to 5,” died on Aug. 25, 2026. In addition to a vibrant legacy that includes music, movies, and an exceptionally generous spirit, she leaves behind her famously big family.
Parton was born on Jan. 19, 1946, in a one-room cabin in a town called Locust Ridge in rural Tennessee. The fourth of 12 children, Parton learned singing from her mother and her maternal grandfather, a fiddling preacher who wrote “Singing His Praise.” Of her upbringing, Parton said that her parents, Robert and Avie Lee, worked hard to ensure that she and her siblings never went without. “We were poor but I never felt poor,” she told The Guardian in 2016. “We always had food, a roof over our heads and clothes on our backs.”
“With that many brothers and sisters there was plenty of teasing and fighting but we were all in it together,” Parton said of their “crowded” living arrangements. Over the years, she often discussed the importance of her family and her relationship with her siblings, most of whom are featured in the 2015 TV movie Coat of Many Colors, based on Parton’s classic song of the same name about her upbringing.
“It brought us back together as family and made us miss mama and daddy a lot,” Parton said in an interview with PEOPLE about the special. “They’re gone now, but we get a chance to see our brothers and sisters again and when we were little, and think of mama and daddy and all that they meant to us.”
Below, Entertainment Weekly takes a closer look at Parton’s 11 siblings, including six brothers and five sisters.
01 of 11
Willadeene Parton
Born on March 24, 1940, Willadeene is the oldest Parton sibling. Like her sister, she had a penchant for writing. “She’s been writing poems and stories since we were both little bitty things,” Parton said during a 1996 appearance on Prime Time Country with Willadeene.
The elder Parton sister humorously recalled an incident that occurred when she was 5 years old and Dolly was a baby. “I was tossing her up in the air and I dropped her,” Willadeene explained. “She rolled down the hill, so I think I helped her get her start in life. She’s been on a roll ever since.”
Willadeene is the successful author of three books: 1985’s In the Shadow of a Song: The Story of the Parton Family, the 1996 memoir Smoky Mountain Memories: Stories from the Hearts of the Parton Family, and the 1997 cookbook All-Day Singing & Dinner on the Ground, featuring recipes from the Parton family.
Willadeene lives a mostly private life, but in August 2025, her sister Freida posted an update on the eldest Parton sibling to her Facebook page, noting that she’s “doing great.”
02 of 11
David Parton
David Parton was the second-oldest sibling within the family, born on March 30, 1942. He was one of three Parton brothers who largely stayed out of the spotlight; he worked as a bridge builder superintendent for many years, handling multiple projects across Tennessee.
He died at age 82 in November 2024, with his sister Stella writing on social media, “It’s never easy to say goodbye to a loved one but he got his angel wings and is now at peace.”
03 of 11
Coy Parton
Coy PartonCredit: Atchley Funeral Home
Born a little over a year after David, on Aug. 16, 1943, Coy was the third-oldest sibling in the Parton family. He too built bridges as a crane operator and was also a homestead farmer and hunter. He passed away on July 23, 2026, and at the time, Stella Parton said in a statement, “My brother [Coy] was a deeply private person. I appreciate the kind messages and expressions of condolences on behalf of my nieces Chris and Jennifer, and the rest of my family.”
04 of 11
Robert Lee Parton Jr.
Robert Lee Parton Jr., named after his father, was born in 1948, two years after Dolly. He’s lived a private life, and as a result, very little is known about him.
05 of 11
Stella Parton
Stella Parton and Dolly Parton at Stella Parton’s Red Tent Women’s Conference 2014 on April 18, 2014 in Nashville, TennCredit: Terry Wyatt/Getty
The sixth of the Parton kids, Stella was born on May 4, 1949, and pursued a music career like her older sister. She released her debut album, I Want to Hold You In My Dreams Tonight, in 1975, followed by two dozen more over the next few decades. In 2011, Stella published a memoir, Tell It Sister, Tell It: Memories, Music and Miracles, and she published a few cookbooks as well, including Stella Parton’s Country Cookin’.
Stella appeared in an episode of The Dukes of Hazzard TV series and performed in several touring productions of Broadway musicals, including Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. (Dolly starred in the 1982 film adaptation.)
While Stella was taking a break from releasing new music, three of the Parton brothers — David, Randy, and Floyd — died, which made it harder for her to focus on writing. “Growing up with so many siblings, we were very emotionally connected, and still are in a real emotional way. It’s a soul connection,” she explained to PEOPLE. “So this whole thing was kind of like emotional paralysis for me in a strange sort of way. Grief has really been a writer’s block for me.”
In June 2026, Stella released her first new song in seven years, a cover of the Ben E. King classic “Stand by Me.”
06 of 11
Cassie Parton
Cassie Parton on the set of ‘Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas’Credit: Katherine Bomboy/NBC/Getty
Cassie was born on Feb. 12, 1951, and is the seventh of the Parton children. Like her older sisters, Cassie is musically gifted, and would occasionally perform with Stella and Dolly, as she did in 1970 on The Porter Wagoner Show. “She’s a good singer, but she’s painfully shy,” Dolly wrote of Cassie in her 1994 memoir, Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business. “And she gets especially nervous in front of a camera. She has to take a Valium to sing on a TV special with us.”
Though Cassie has mostly stayed out of the spotlight, she still performs from time to time. In 2013, she and brother Randy performed in “My People: Dolly’s Letter Home,” a stage show at Dolly’s Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Cassie’s daughter, Rebecca Seaver, is Dolly’s archivist and the curator behind the Dolly Parton Experience museum at Dollywood. Her son, Bryan, announced Parton’s death, saying it was “something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality.”
Advertisement
07 of 11
Randy Parton
Randy Parton and Dolly Parton performing together in November 2018Credit: AFF-USA/Shutterstock
The eighth of the Parton siblings, Randy was born on Dec. 15, 1953. A talented musician like many of his siblings, Randy released his debut album, There Was a Dream, in 1978. Two years later, he sang with Dolly on the track “Old Flames (Can’t Hold a Candle to You).”
Randy performed for many years as part of Dollywood’s “My People” show, and in 2020, when Dolly released her first Christmas album in 30 years, he and his daughter Heidi featured on the track “You Are My Christmas.”
Randy died in January 2021 at the age of 67 following a battle with cancer. In a tribute shared to her website, Dolly wrote, “Randy was a great singer, writer, and entertainer. He sang, played guitar and bass in my band for many years. He headed his own show at Dollywood since it opened in 1986. He’s had several chart records of his own, but his duet with me on ‘Old Flames Can’t Hold A Candle To You’ will always be a highlight in my own career.”
“‘You Are My Christmas,’ our duet on my latest Christmas album, joined with his daughter Heidi, will always be a favorite,” Dolly continued. “It was his last musical recording and he shined on it just like he’s shining in heaven now.”
08 of 11
Larry Parton
The ninth Parton child, Larry, died tragically just four days after he was born in July 1955. As Dolly recounted in her memoir, her mother, Avie Lee, contracted spinal meningitis while pregnant with Larry. Dolly explained that because of their large family, each new baby was assigned to a sibling; Larry was meant to be Dolly’s.
“I think it was care for me that made Mama so upset at what she ‘knew’ about the baby she was carrying,” Dolly wrote, referring to a sixth sense her mother developed after recovering from meningitis. “She told Daddy that my unborn brother, Larry, would not live. He had been made ‘my baby,’ and she knew it would be harder for me than anybody else. Mama went into labor on July 4, and Larry was born on the fifth. The angels that had spared Mama called little Larry to be with them.”
“I was inconsolable,” Parton wrote of the loss. “I wouldn’t leave Larry’s grave. I would take a lantern up on the hill and sit there most of the night talking to him and crying.”
The story of Larry’s loss is featured prominently in the 2015 TV movie Coat of Many Colors
09 of 11
Floyd Parton
Dolly Parton and Floyd Parton in California on Jan. 15, 1981Credit: Ron Galella/WireImage
Floyd and his twin sister Freida were born on June 1, 1957, making them babies 10 and 11. As with many of his siblings, Floyd was a talented singer-songwriter and occasionally collaborated with Dolly, cowriting “Rockin’ Years,” her Grammy-nominated duet with Ricky Van Shelton, and Dolly’s “Nickels and Dimes.”
“Even if he is my brother,” Dolly wrote in her memoir, “I happen to think Floyd is one of the greatest writers and singers today. I’ve always believed that he could be a star also.”
Floyd died in December 2018 at the age of 61. His obituary described him as a “renaissance man” and “a man of many talents and areas of knowledge” who loved the outdoors “and had an abundant knowledge of nature as well as being an incredible cook.”
“Dolly, and the entire Parton Family, wish to thank everyone for their kindness,” said the Parton family in a statement to PEOPLE at the time. “Yesterday, we laid our sweet baby brother to rest. We all sang his lovely song, ‘Rockin’ Years,’ together as a family at the service to say goodbye to him. He lived a short life of love and beautiful songs.”
10 of 11
Freida Parton
Freida Parton and Dolly Parton at Bearsville Studios in North Hollywood, Calif., on Jan. 15, 1981Credit: Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty
As the eleventh child out of 12, Freida was primed to follow in her musical siblings’ footsteps, though she strove to find her own style. On the official site for her family’s 2024 album Smoky Mountain DNA: Family, Faith, and Fables, Freida said, “The mountains are in me, in my blood and my whole being. But I’ve always written and performed both rock and country songs. That’s why my first album was called Two-Faced, I have both types of music in me.”
Freida was a regular performer at Dollywood for some time, producing songs rooted in her family’s history in Tennessee. Her music became so beloved among park guests that she recorded them for a cassette made available only at Dollywood; she later rerecorded the songs for a 2026 album, The Crops Come In.
In 2014, as an ordained minister, she opened a joint chapel and antique store in Sevierville, Tenn., named Parton Family Wedding Chapel & Antiques, that later closed. She was briefly married to country singer Paul Overstreet, though they later divorced. Sometime later, she married musician Mark Andersen. They share a daughter, Jada, who releases music under the stage name Jada Star.
11 of 11
Rachel Parton
Rachel Parton on the set of ‘Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas’Credit: Katherine Bomboy/NBC/Getty
Dolly’s youngest sibling, Rachel Parton George, was born on Aug. 31, 1959. Despite a 10-year-plus age gap, many fans have commented on how closely they resembled each other, at times even looking like twins.
Like many of her siblings, Rachel developed a passion for music at a young age, telling PEOPLE in a 1982 interview, “Singing was like breathing at home.” She spent time performing alongside her siblings, both as backup for Dolly and alongside Randy in the band Honey Creek. In 1979, she married Richard Dennison, Dolly’s pianist, and they had one child together. They later divorced, though the exact year is unclear. She later married Eric Wilson George.
Rachel made a brief foray into acting in the ‘80s, and her singular onscreen role was a poignant one: She played Doralee Rhodes in the television adaptation of 9 to 5, stepping into the very same role her sister played in the original 1980 film. At the time, Rachel told PEOPLE, “I’m sure people will compare me to Dolly—it’s only human nature.” She’d appear in all five seasons of the show, alongside costars Valerie Curtin, Rita Moreno, and Sally Struthers.
She later retired from performing in 1999, but remained a key part in Dolly’s business, serving as the executive director of her company. She appeared in Dolly’s 2022 television special Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas, and in 2024, the two sisters released a cookbook, Good Lookin’ Cookin’.
Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
