Dolly Partonโ€™s Siblings: What to Know About Her 11 Brothers and Sisters

Dolly Partonโ€™s Siblings: What to Know About Her 11 Brothers and Sisters


Dolly Parton, country music icon and 10-time Grammy winning singer-songwriter, died โ€œpeacefullyโ€ on Aug. 25 in Nashville, Tennessee, according to a news release from True Public Relations.

Her death was announced in a video message by her nephew Bryan Seaver, the son of Dolly Partonโ€™s sister Cassie Parton. He did not provide a cause of death.

Dolly Parton is one of 12 children. Raised by Robert and Avie Lee Parton, the kids grew up in the Appalachia region of Tennessee, according to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Dolly Parton has six living brothers and sisters: Willadeene, Robert Jr., Stella, Cassie, Freida and Rachel. Five of her brothers have died: Larry, in 1955 when he was just a baby; Floyd, in 2018 at age 61; Randy, in 2021 at age 67; David, in 2024 at age 82; and Coy, in July 2026 at age 82, per People.

Read on for everything you need to know about Dolly Partonโ€™s 11 siblings.

Willadeene Parton

Willadeene Parton.
Willadeene Parton, 86, is Dolly Partonโ€™s oldest sister.Ron Frehm / AP

Willadeene Parton, born March 24, 1940, is the eldest of Dolly Partonโ€™s siblings. She โ€œtends to act as a second mother to her younger siblings,โ€ according to a post on Dolly Partonโ€™s official website.

Willadeene Parton, now 86, pursued a career as an author. In 1996, she published a memoir about the Parton clan titled โ€œSmoky Mountain Memories: Stories from the Hearts of the Parton Family.โ€ The following year, she released โ€œAll-Day Singing & Dinner on the Ground,โ€ a compilation of recipes from the Parton family.

David Parton

Dolly Parton and brother David Parton.
David Parton is Dolly Partonโ€™s older brother and Robert and Avie Leeโ€™s oldest son.Ron Galella Collection / Getty Images

David Parton, who worked as a bridge builder superintendent, died Nov. 15, 2024, at age 82 at his home in White Pine, Tennessee, sister Stella Parton announced. A cause of death has not been revealed.

Sharing news of her brotherโ€™s death, Stella Parton posted on Threads, saying that her brother โ€œfinally got his angel wings. RIP dear soul. Love you forever.โ€

Before his death, David Parton largely lived his life out of the spotlight, though he had been photographed escorting Dolly Parton to events, according to Womanโ€™s World.

Stella Parton

Stella Parton performing.
Much like her older sister Dolly, Stella Parton, 77, is a successful country singer-songwriter.Jo Hale/Redferns / Getty Images

Stella Parton, an acclaimed musician born May 4, 1949, was 11 when she made her recording debut with sisters Dolly and Cassie Parton, singing on their uncle Bill Owensโ€™ album, per the Smoky Mountain DNA website, which traces Dolly Partonโ€™s family origins.

Since then, Stella Parton has released more than 30 albums, starting with โ€œI Want to Hold You (In My Dreams Tonight),โ€ which came out in 1975.

Stella Parton, now 77, released a memoir in 2011 titled โ€œTell It Sister, Tell It: Memories, Music and Miracles.โ€ She has explored acting, too, with appearances in the film โ€œDolly Partonโ€™s Coat of Many Colorsโ€ (2015) and โ€œDolly Partonโ€™s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Loveโ€ (2016).

While promoting the 2022 Pure Flix original movie โ€œNothing is Impossible,โ€ Stella Parton revealed to People that she considers herself a โ€œloner in (her) family.โ€

โ€œEverybody knows that Iโ€™m independent,โ€ she said. โ€œBut if they need me, if they call me out to help with something, producing, consulting or whatever, Iโ€™m always there.โ€

Cassie Parton

Cassie Parton.
Cassie Parton, 75, is Dolly Partonโ€™s younger sister and the fourth daughter of Robert and Avie Lee Parton.Katherine Bomboy/NBC / Getty Images

Cassie Parton, born on Feb. 12, 1951, first recorded music at age 10, singing backup vocals with sisters Dolly and Stella Parton, the Smoky Mountain DNA project revealed.

In 1970, she sang with her sisters on โ€œThe Porter Wagoner Show,โ€ and she performed as a vocalist in the 2013 Dollywood production โ€œMy People: Dollyโ€™s Letter Home,โ€ according to Knox News.

She also appeared in an episode of the TV series โ€œDollyโ€ and had a role in the 2022 film โ€œDolly Partonโ€™s Mountain Magic Christmas,โ€ according to IMDb. Nowadays, she leads a fairly private life.

Her son Bryan Seaver served as Dolly Partonโ€™s head of security for two decades.

Randy Parton

Dolly Parton shares the microphone with her brother Randy Parton in 2005.
Randy Parton, Dolly Partonโ€™s younger brother and a renowned musician, died in 2021 at 67.Todd Wetherington/The Daily Herald / AP

Randy Parton, born Dec. 15, 1953, died in 2021 at the age of 67. On Jan. 21, 2021, Dolly shared his death on Facebook, revealing that her brother had died from cancer.

โ€œThe family and I are grieving his loss, but we know he is in a better place than we are at this time,โ€ the country icon said in her statement. โ€œWe are a family of faith, and we believe that he is with God and that he is joined by members of the family that have gone on before and have welcomed him with joy and open arms.โ€

Like his older sister, Randy Parton achieved success in music and entertainment. Famous for his headline performances at Dollywood, the singer-songwriter released several hits that graced Billboardโ€™s Hot Country Songs chart, including โ€œHold Me Like You Never Had Me,โ€ โ€œShot Full of Love,โ€ โ€œDonโ€™t Cry Baby,โ€ โ€œOh, Noโ€ and โ€œA Stranger in Her Bed,โ€ according to the music publication.

Larry Parton

Larry Parton, Robert and Avie Lee Partonโ€™s ninth child and fifth son, died days after his birth in July 1955. Dolly Parton was 9 years old at the time of her brotherโ€™s death.

Floyd Parton

Dolly Parton and her brother Floyd Parton.
Floyd Parton, Dolly Partonโ€™s younger brother and a country songwriter, died in 2018 at 61.Ron Galella Collection / Getty Images

Floyd Parton and twin sister Freida Parton were born June 1, 1957. Like many of his siblings, Floyd Parton pursued a career in the music industry, often collaborating with Dolly Parton.

He penned her 1991 duet with Ricky Van Shelton, โ€œRockinโ€™ Yearsโ€ and wrote โ€œNickels and Dimesโ€ for her 1978 album โ€œHeartbreaker.โ€

Floyd Parton died Dec. 6, 2018, at the age of 61. The Parton family paid tribute to Floyd Parton at a private memorial in Tennessee, reported Billboard.

โ€œDolly, and the entire Parton family, wish to thank everyone for their kindness,โ€ the family said in a statement to People at the time. โ€œYesterday, we laid our sweet baby brother to rest. We all sang his lovely song, โ€˜Rockinโ€™ Years,โ€™ together as a family at the service to say goodbye to him. He lived a short life of love and beautiful songs.โ€

Freida Parton

Frieda Parton and Dolly Parton on  1981.
Freida Parton is Floyd Partonโ€™s twin sister.Ron Galella Collection / Getty Images

Freida Parton, born June 1, 1957, is Floyd Partonโ€™s twin sister. Freida Parton ventured into the realm of music but diverged from her familyโ€™s country origins, singing hard rock songs.

Later in life, Freida Parton became an ordained minister. She told Knoxville News Sentinel in an interview in April 2014 that she had opened Parton Family Wedding Chapel & Antiques, a wedding chapel and store, in the familyโ€™s native Sevierville, Tennessee. However, the business appears to have closed.

Rachel Parton George

Rachel Parton.
Rachel Parton George, 66, is Robert and Avie Lee Partonโ€™s youngest child.Katherine Bomboy / NBC / Getty Images

Rachel Parton George was born on Aug. 31, 1959. Sheโ€™s known for her portrayal of Doralee Rhodes Brooks in the ABC sitcom โ€œ9 to 5,โ€ which was based on the 1980 comedy film of the same name that starred Dolly Parton.

In addition to acting, Rachel Parton George released a country album in 1984, per the Smoky Mountain DNA website. According to her author page for Penguin Random House, she also performed in her familyโ€™s singing group.

In September 2024, the youngest sibling of the Parton clan released a cookbook with sister Dolly Parton called โ€œGood Lookinโ€™ Cookinโ€™: A Year of Meals.โ€

Ahead of the release, Dolly Parton shared a picture of her and her sister on social media.

โ€œThe best part of creating this cookbook is getting to spend quality time with my sister Rachel,โ€ Dolly Parton captioned the post with a red heart emoji. โ€œWe canโ€™t wait to share our recipes with you all, pre-order now at the link in my bio!โ€

Coy and Robert Lee Parton Jr.

Dollyโ€™s other siblings โ€” her older brother Coy Parton and younger brother Robert Lee Parton Jr. โ€” largely led lives out of the spotlight.

Coy Parton, who worked as a crane operator, died in July 2026, according to an obituary shared by Atchley Funeral Home. A cause of death was not provided.