The world is mourning the loss of one of the greatest country singers of all time. Dolly Parton’s death at age 80 has set off an outpouring of grief and tribute across the world from fans and friends. And while she has a long line of accolades over the years, singer and actress Cher remembers Dolly for her laugh more than everything else.
Interviewed on CBS News following the death of Parton, Cher admitted that she hasn’t quite dealt with the news yet. “We were just talking, I was fine, then I started crying,” she told Gayle King.
When asked about the first time they met, Cher took the news anchors back decades. Cher first saw Dolly at her manager’s house before she knew they both had the same manager. “I walked in, and I see this chick with like this major hair and white pants,” Cher recalled, “and like a not exactly a shirt, but like kind of a jackety shirt but it fit her tight. I looked at it and I thought, ‘My god, I’ve never seen so many buttons in my life.'”
That was her very first impression. Cher said she immediately turned to her manager and asked who the woman was. “He said, ‘You know what, Cher? You’re going to love her. She’s going to love you.'” Looking back now after all these years, it was true. As Cher put it: “It was the truth. And we did.”
Cher believed it was Parton’s optimism that drew people to her. “She just had a spirit and it was a spirit that was always thinking the best was happening, the best was going to happen,” Cher said. “Her friends loved her. Her life was good. You know, that’s who she was.”
Cher also admired Parton’s gift for performing live. She watched her concerts and was a fan of her music. “When she walked across the stage every once in a while she would bend over like to reach out to the audience,” Cher said, “and she smiled. I mean, you know, it’s a gift. I mean, you don’t come by that gift.”
Over the years, Parton had health scares she was open about but never disclosed the diagnosis. When asked about it, Cher said she wasn’t surprised by her choice. “Because it was her spirit,” she said. “I mean, she wasn’t like, no matter what was happening, she was either going to go with it, or it was going to get better.”
Even though she spent the past year reassuring fans about her health, Parton died in Nashville after a brief battle with cancer, surrounded by loved ones, according to a family statement. According to reports, she was also still grieving her husband of nearly 60 years, Carl Dean, who died in March 2025.
Cher named “I Will Always Love You” and “Islands in the Stream” as her two favorite Dolly Parton songs. But more than her music, Cher said she would miss “her laugh” most.
The interview comes as Cher, who turned 80 herself this past May, continues to reflect on her own career and her decades-long friendship with Parton, which she also wrote about in her recently released memoir, Cher: Part One.
Watch the full interview below.
