Miley Cyrus remembers godmother Dolly Parton as an ‘angel by my side’

Celine Dion described Parton as “pure light, with a kind heart and a generous spirit”.

She wrote: “We will now be missing one of the most joyful voices this world has ever known. Thank you for the music, the laughter, and the love you gave us all. We will always love you.”

The world of country music, meanwhile, mourned one of its biggest icons, with singer Kacey Musgraves – who performed in a 2019 Grammys celebration of the singer – saying: “The world feels a lot less sparkly all of a sudden.”

Reba McEntire thanked Parton for “all the wonderful things you did for us here on earth”.

“Your love, your music and you gave so much with your huge huge heart. There will never ever be another you,” she wrote.

Jane Fonda, who co-starred alongside Parton in the film 9 To 5 in 1980, said she was “devastated”.

Fonda said Parton was “simultaneously a naughty, playful southern gal from the hollows of Tennessee and a deep, soulful thinker who could see through people right down to their true selves”.

Former talk show host Oprah Winfrey wrote: “This girl from the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee dreamed a life and then lived a life bigger than she could have ever imagined, giving so generously to others in ways we saw and ways we didn’t.”