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New York City will light up for Dolly Parton tonight, just hours after the beloved country music icon died at age 80.
The Empire State Building will illuminate its world-famous tower lights in pink on Tuesday, August 25, from 9:25pm to 10:25pm, in memory of Parton and in support of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
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Parton died peacefully in Nashville on Tuesday, according to her family. Her death at age 80 brings to an end one of the most remarkable careers in American entertainment, leaving the country (or at least social media) united in grief.
For nearly six decades, Parton was a singular force in music, film, television and philanthropy. She wrote some of country music’s most enduring songs, including “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors” and “I Will Always Love You,” while becoming a Grammy-winning performer and one of the most recognizable entertainers on the planet. She also starred in films including 9 to 5 and Steel Magnolias and built a sprawling entertainment empire that included Dollywood and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (Yes, really: Her production company was behind it.)
But Parton’s legacy stretched far beyond risque jokes, big hair and hit records. Her Imagination Library, launched in 1995 in her native East Tennessee, grew into an international literacy program that sends free, high-quality books to children from birth through age 5. The program now operates across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland, sending more than 3 million books each month.
That makes tonight’s pink tribute particularly fitting. The Empire State Building says the illumination will honor both Parton and the charitable organization that has long become one of the defining parts of her multifaceted legacy.
And tonight, high above the streets of NYC, we have a pretty spectacular place and way to say goodbye and pay tribute to an American legend. After all of the sparkle she gave us, it seems only right that NYC should pay her back in kind, at least for an hour tonight.