The “Queen of Country” Dolly Parton has died in Nashville, Tennessee, her family announced on Tuesday. The music icon was 80.

“After bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her Earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones,” Parton’s publicist, Marcel Pariseau, said Tuesday.

Parton’s death reverberated across her home state, including among Black lawmakers who celebrated her artistry and unwavering devotion to Tennessee.

“Tennessee has lost a legend,” Tennessee state Rep. Justin J. Pearson said Tuesday. “Dolly Parton was an extraordinary songwriter, singer, music icon, a Tennessee hero, and someone who never lost touch with her Tennessee roots.”

Pearson added that Parton, known for her platinum wigs and her wit, “was as generous as she was gifted, providing millions of books to children through her Imagination Library and giving to causes dear to her heart.”

Yet Parton’s reach extended far beyond Tennessee — and far beyond country music. Her impact spanned genres and generations, making an undeniable mark on Black life and culture.

Whitney Houston

Houston, beloved as The Voice, famously covered Parton’s song, “I Will Always Love You,” for The Bodyguard in 1992. Her rendition topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 weeks. Parton later revealed in 2021 that she used some of the royalties from Houston’s version to invest in a historically Black Nashville neighborhood.

Beyoncé

Parton’s influence is all over Beyoncé’s Grammy-winning 2024 album, Cowboy Carter. Beyoncé reimagines the Parton classic “Jolene,” features the country legend on the spoken-word interlude “Dolly P,” and includes her in a cameo at the beginning of “Tyrant.”

Lil Nas X

During a performance in 2021, Lil Nas X put his own spin on “Jolene,” singing Parton’s original without changing the pronouns used in the lyrics. A longtime LGBTQ rights advocate, Parton praised the rapper, saying that she was “honored and flattered” by his take on her tune.

Pras, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, and Mýa

For 1998’s “Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are),” Pras teamed up with Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Mýa. The worldwide smash interpolates the melody of “Islands in the Stream,” the 1983 hit by Parton and Kenny Rogers.

The post Dolly Parton Made an Undeniable Mark on Black Culture appeared first on Capital B News.

In lieu of flowers, Dolly Parton’s family is asking for donations to her Imagination Library, which has distributed over 330 million books to kids.

It was pretty clear this day was coming — her health had been failing and she had missed several high profile appearances — but this doesn’t make today any easier for literally generations of people, some of who knew her from her music, and others who benefitted from her philanthropy, including the Imagination Library, which put books into the hands of millions of children. Her private life was famously her own, but her public life was one of kindness, tolerance and inclusivity, consistent across decades. There was only ever one of her. Saying she’ll be missed doesn’t begin cover it.

— JS

RIP Dolly Parton, a gem and a hero. She died today at the age of 80.

Emporia Kansas has dropped its criminal case against Lux Claridge, a high school teacher who was arrested for clapping during a city data center meeting.

“Today, I was informed by my attorney that the city has dropped my charges and has passed my information along to the county. As far as I know, I'm in the clear unless the county is feeling froggy,” Claridge told 404 Media in an email on Monday.

The small town of Emporia, Kansas is fighting against its city commission and a proposed hyperscale data center project that would sit on 1,000 acres of prairie land near Claridge’s home. Claridge attended a commission meeting on July 22 and planned to speak out against the project, but was dragged out of the meeting and arrested by police when they clapped during a presentation.

Emporia held Claridge for eight hours and charged them with disorderly conduct and interfering with a law enforcement officer. The city refused to show 404 Media a copy of the arrest report and has not responded to a request for comment about the dropped charges.

After Clardige’s arrest, Emporia’s city commission moved to virtual meetings and ended public comment. The city said it was doing so “in the interest of public safety.” According to Claridge, the city commission announced that in-person meetings with open public comments will return soon. “Our mayor is ‘willing to give us another shot to act like grown ups,’” Claridge said, quoting Emporia mayor Becky Smith. They added that the city will vote on whether or not to ban hyper-scale data centers outright in November.

According to a press release from the Emporia city commission, the city will meet in-person in a special session open to the public on August 26. “Public comment is expected to resume at the regular September 2 meeting,” the announcement said. In a different press release, the city said the November vote on a data center ban hinges on a County court giving it the OK.

Emporia did not return 404 Media’s request for a comment.

Target’s now-pulled children’s Halloween costume is so unbelievably racist that it had to, on some level, be purposely done by someone in the decision chain and everyone else was like, “seems ok to me”.