Dolly Parton has opened up about the death of Charlie Daniels. Dolly took to Twitter on July 6 to share a touching tribute to her fellow country music star shortly after it was confirmed that he had died of a stroke at 83 years old earlier in the day. In her message, she referenced The Charlie Daniels Band’s 1979 hit “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” and described his sudden passing as being “such a shock.”
“Well, the devil went down to Georgia, but Charlie went straight to heaven,” Dolly began her tribute. “My heart, like many millions of others, is broken today to find out that we’ve lost our dear friend Charlie Daniels.”
“It was such a shock. He was one of the great people in the business and one of the greatest entertainers ever. He will live on in our hearts. Rest in peace, Charlie.”
Dolly’s heartfelt tribute to the “Long Haired Country Boy” singer and Grand Ole Opry member was spread over two tweets, which together received almost 54,000 likes in the first 13 hours since she posted them.
Plenty of fans of Dolly and Charlie replied to the message to share their condolences as well as their own memories of Charlie from his lengthy career, which started back in the 1950s.
“Another member to the angels choir. Rest peaceful Charlie,” one person replied.
“My sincere condolences to Charlie Daniels and family,” another Twitter user said.
“A life well lived…in service to his fellow man, his country and his God. May he rest in peace,” a third said.
Dolly and Charlie have known each other for several years. The two country legends were even honored together back in 2009 when they both, alongside Kid Rock, got stars on the Music City Walk of Fame on Nashville’s Music Mile, which is located in front of the world-famous Country Music Hall of Fame.
Charlie is thought to have suffered a hemorrhagic stroke while at Summit Medical Center in Hermitage, Tennessee. The singer is survived by his wife, Hazel Daniels, and their son, Charlie Daniels Jr.
Many other members of the country music community have taken to social media to pay tribute to the late singer after his death was announced, including Travis Tritt, American Idol judge Luke Bryan , Carrie Underwood , and Tim McGraw .
Gretchen Wilson also shared sweet words for the late star alongside a photo of them on stage together via her Instagram account. In the caption of the upload, she said that she had “never met a better man.”
