Andy Cohen found a tender way to explain country legend Dolly Parton’s place in his family. He shared a painting of the country legend and revealed his son once mistook her for someone divine.
The Watch What Happens Live host posted the artwork Tuesday, August 25, after announcing that Parton had died at 80.
What Did Andy Cohen Say About Dolly Parton?
Cohen said the portrait, showing Parton with platinum hair and blue eye shadow, hangs in his living room.
His son Ben once looked at the painting and asked, “Daddy, is that God?”
“He was onto something…” Cohen wrote in the Instagram tribute.
The Bravo host then reflected on the privilege of sharing the world with Parton.
“We were all so lucky to live in her midst and get to experience her music, kindness, and joy,” he wrote alongside butterfly and broken-heart emojis.
The message captured Parton through a child’s eyes while honoring qualities that repeatedly surfaced in remembrances from friends, collaborators and fans.
What Was Andy Cohen’s Connection to Dolly Parton?
Cohen’s affection for Parton stretched beyond the painting in his home. She surprised him with a phone call during his 50th birthday celebration on Watch What Happens Live in 2018.
During the playful exchange, Parton went along with Cohen’s suggestion that her 1977 song “Me and Little Andy” had secretly been written about him.
Parton later appeared on Cohen’s show in 2021 and discussed using royalties from Whitney Houston’s recording of “I Will Always Love You” to invest in a historically Black neighborhood in Nashville. The conversation highlighted the generosity Cohen remembered in his farewell.
How Was Dolly Parton’s Death Announced?
NBCParton’s nephew and longtime head of security, Bryan Seaver, announced her death in a video shared through her official Instagram account.
Seaver said Parton had asked him years earlier to deliver the announcement when the time came. He described her as being “in the arms of Jesus” and reunited with her late husband, Carl Dean, who died in March 2025.
Parton died peacefully in Nashville, according to the Associated Press. Her cause of death had not been publicly disclosed as of Tuesday evening.
Which Stars Have Honored Dolly Parton?
Cohen’s post joined an outpouring of tributes across music, television and film.
Reba McEntire thanked her longtime friend for her music and enormous heart, writing, “There will never ever be another you.”
Parton’s honorary goddaughter, Miley Cyrus, mourned “the purest soul,” while Kelly Clarkson wrote, “I will miss her heart and her voice as I am sure millions will.”
Blake Shelton remembered Parton as every bit as warm and caring in person as fans imagined. Other tributes came from Dionne Warwick, Kacey Musgraves, Jamie Lee Curtis and Parton’s 9 to 5 co-stars.
The 11-time Grammy winner left behind classics including “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors” and “I Will Always Love You,” along with a philanthropic legacy led by Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
For Cohen, however, one child’s innocent question said nearly everything: Dolly looked like heaven.
