Dolly Parton has died.
On Tuesday, in a two-minute video posted to the Tennessee icon’s official Instagram page, Bryan Seaver, Parton’s nephew, broke the news. An hour after the video was posted, it had over 17 million views, 2.8 million likes and 132,000 comments.
“This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality. As her head of security for more than two decades, a role my father Larry held before me, I have imagined the heaviness of this moment but haven’t truly felt it until now,” Seaver said in the video. “It is an honor, an honor that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness. But sadness lies with us, not with Dolly.”
Parton was 80 years old. Her representatives told People magazine she died after a ‘brief battle with cancer.’
(PHOTOS: Dolly Days in downtown Ringglold)