After news that Dolly Parton died on August 25 after a “brief battle” with cancer, millions of fans are mourning the country music icon. Her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame has been adorned with flowers and trinkets, and tributes have continued to pour in from artists across generations and genres. One surprising post came from Eminem, who shared a personal letter from Parton, and apologizing that they never got to meet.
Eminem took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a photo of a letter she sent him after his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. “I’m sorry we never got a chance to meet, but getting this note from Dolly really had an impact on me,” Eminem wrote alongside the letter. “She definitely didn’t have to take the time to do it.”
The letter was addressed to “Marshall (Eminem)” and started with Parton congratulating him. “Congratulations on your induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,” she wrote. “Your performance was amazing, and everybody said so.”
© Getty Images for The Rock and RoParton added that while rap wasn’t her area of expertise, she could recognize Eminem’s talent. “Even though I don’t know a lot about rap music, I’ve come to know that you are the very best at it,” she wrote.
The message then got very personal with Parton telling the rapper that she hoped what she was about to say would not seem “weird or strange,” writing, “I have always felt some unexplained connection to you, like I know you somehow.”
She explained that she had hoped to meet him at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame show. “I had hoped to meet you at the show, but you know how nuts those things are; personally, I hate ’em, and I missed my chance, but maybe someday we’ll meet,” Parton wrote.
© GetyShe then encouraged Eminem to keep doing what he was doing “in the meantime.” “Because you do it so well and no matter how complex your world may be, just know you are very special and touch people in ways you don’t even know,” the country legend continued.
She signed the note, “With love & respect, Dolly Parton.”
In the caption, Eminem continued to reflect on how special it was that he wrote it. “Even for a kid who mostly listened to rap music, she was an icon. A superstar in every sense,” he wrote. “Rest easy, Dolly. And thank you for the kind words.”
Dolly’s funeral plans
© GettyParton died at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville surrounded by loved ones. Her funeral will be a much more intimate affair than the massive public celebration her career could have inspired.
© Michael Ochs ArchivesAccording to TMZ, Parton’s family and closest friends are preparing for a small private gathering in Nashville in the coming days.
Her representatives later confirmed to Page Six that keeping the funeral private was in accordance with Parton’s wishes. No large public funeral or memorial has been announced.
She is expected to be buried wearing a cotton dress and high heels, with her final resting place next to her beloved husband, Carl Thomas Dean, at Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Nashville.
© GettyDean died in March 2025 after nearly 60 years of marriage to Parton. Parton’s nephew Bryan Seaver, who served as her head of security for more than two decades, was the person chosen to announce her death.
He revealed that before she died, “Dolly called me and said she wants to rest in a beautiful bed of plush cotton, because after a life wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and have some rest.”
Rest in peace.
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