Among those paying tribute to Dolly Parton this week is the singer’s younger sister, singer Freida Parton, 69, who opened up in a lengthy Facebook post on Saturday (Aug. 29) about her loving relationship with the country icon she referred to as “Dolly Momma.”
“Thank you all for bearing with me as I mourn the death of my big sister. I know to the entire world, she was a superstar, but to me, she was my Dolly Momma,” wrote Freida, who was one of Parton’s 11 siblings. “She was the sister who would climb into bed with me when I was little because we were both afraid of the dark. She was the woman who stepped up and became my Momma, raising me from ages 13 to 18. She was the one who tried to convince me to wear her wigs at my shows in Dollywood (sorry, sister, but I definitely didn’t listen to you on that one).”
Freida wrote that, like all sisters, the siblings had their share of arguments and disagreements over the years, but through all those highs, lows and in-betweens, through the laughter and the tears, “I never stopped loving her.”
Back in October 2025, Freida apologized to her sister’s fans for raising alarms about Dolly’s health after asking for prayers for the Grammy-winning star. I want to clear something up. I didn’t mean to scare anyone or make it sound so serious when asking for prayers for Dolly,” she wrote on Oct. 7. “She’s been a little under the weather, and I simply asked for prayers because I believe so strongly in the power of prayer. It was nothing more than a little sister asking for prayers for her big sister. Thank you all for lifting her up. Your love truly makes a difference.”
Parton died on Tuesday (Aug. 25) at age 80 following what her nephew said was a brief battle with an unspecified cancer.
Freida said while she asked for prayers for Dolly last year, she’s now asking those same fans to pray for her and the whole Parton family as they navigate what she called an “insurmountable” loss. “There will never be anyone who can replace her in our hearts, and I know she holds a special place in many of yours as well,” Freida wrote. “I know she would want me to keep going, keep smiling, and keep sharing the love she gave so freely with others. That is what I’m going to try to do, even on the days when it feels impossible.”
The note ended with Freida promising that she is working on “something very special” for Dolly’s fans in her honor, without specifying what that project was, but describing it as her way of “keeping a little piece of my Dolly Momma with me, while sharing her with all of you who loved her, too.”
Parton was buried in a private family ceremony on Friday (Aug. 28) in Nashville and on Saturday, Freida’s daughter, singer Jada Star, paid tribute to her aunt at the Grand Ole Opry by performing “The Orchard.”
