Dolly Parton welcomes fans to her new museum in video filmed before her death
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE: A posthumously released video shows Dolly Parton warmly welcoming fans to a new museum dedicated to her life and career. The Life of Many Colors Museum officially opened Tuesday, Sept 29, inside her Nashville hotel, SongTeller, which also began operations that day.
Parton died on August 25 at 80 after a brief, undisclosed battle with cancer, just missing the museum’s launch.
Dolly Parton welcomes fans to her Life of Many Colors Museum
In the recorded clip, Parton said she was “so proud” to invite fans to the Museum in the heart of Nashville at her SongTeller Hotel. She described the exhibition as the largest exhibit of her life and career, filled with the stories, songs and memories she had carried throughout her life.
Parton added that the museum included the things that helped make her childhood dreams come true and said she could not wait to share them with fans. The museum takes its name from Parton’s 1971 song ‘Coat of Many Colors,’ which tells the story of a jacket her mother made for her from rags when she was a child.
Located on the hotel’s third floor, the exhibition includes Parton’s 1966 wedding dress, which she wore when she married Carl Dean.
Dean died at age 82 in March 2025 from causes that remained private, two months before what would have been their 59th wedding anniversary. Parton was later buried beside him at Nashville’s Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum, where she was laid to rest in high heels three days after her death.
The bridal gown is displayed in a case designed to resemble Ringgold First Baptist Church in Georgia, where they got married. Her niece Rebecca Seaver, who helped put the museum together, called their relationship “one of the great American love stories” and said it was an honor to share it with visitors.
Dolly Parton’s archive, 'Jolene' dress and Nashville legacy
Rebecca said the exhibition begins with an immersive walkthrough of Parton’s life, covering her birth in a log cabin in Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains and her first meeting with Dean at the Wishy Washy laundromat in Nashville.
Visitors are guided by audio recordings called 'Dolly-grams', allowing Parton to remain the “conductor for the symphony.” Rebecca said the family was fortunate to record those moments and ask Parton what she wanted people to see.
The museum also features the dress Parton wore for the cover of her 1973 song ‘Jolene.’ Rebecca said the outfit had never previously been displayed because it needed restoration, but Parton was excited after it was given the necessary care.
Rebecca’s brother Bryan Seaver, who served as Parton’s head of security, announced her death on video last month. The museum’s opening comes amid a dispute over Parton’s estate involving Bryan and Danny Nozell, her manager for more than two decades.
Before her death, another Parton exhibition had opened at Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame, featuring items including the tape recorder she used while writing ‘Jolene,’ ‘I Will Always Love You’ and ‘The Seeker.’
