‘The Entire World Will Never Be the Same’ — Fever Star Sophie Cunningham Shares Heartfelt Tribute to Late Country Music Legend Dolly Parton

Samir Mehdi Wed, August 26, 2026 at 3:37 AM UTC

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Collage featuring BASKETBALL-WNBA-CHI-IND/ and Dolly Parton makes an appearance during an opening day event for passholders at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge on Friday, March 14,. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect / USA TODAY Network via Reuters Co

Dolly Parton, at age 80, has passed away. Her team confirmed her death came after a “brief battle with cancer.”

Tributes have been pouring in for the ‘Jolene’ singer from across the world, with Sophie Cunningham being the latest of many to show love to the late country music legend.

Sophie Cunningham Pays Tribute To Dolly Parton Upon Her Passing

Indiana Fever’s Cunningham took to her Instagram story and posted a message from the Instagram page ‘countrynow’. It read,

“Country music and the entire world will never be the same without Dolly. So, the only way forward is to be more like Dolly. Be kind to your neighbor. Do good in the world. Help others. Spread a little more love. Be like Dolly.”

The heartfelt message was followed by another IG story from the Fever guard featuring a quote from Parton.

“Don’t get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.”

Cunningham has been a fan of country music for quite some time now. In February, she revealed on her ‘Show Me Something’ podcast that she may even be working on her own song or, at the very least, contributing to one’s production.

“I think that there might be something kind of cool in the background brewing that I might be doing something with someone. A little country artist, because that’s more my vibe.”

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Given how big a country music fan Cunningham is,her reaction to seeing Blake Shelton a couple of months later at the Fever’s 2026 training camp was understandable.

Her jaw visibly dropped as she said, “I just lost all focus.”

It isn’t just country music that Cunningham appreciates, however. Prior to the start of the 2026 season, she revealed that her pre-game playlist consists of a wide variety of genres.

“I just do what I feel that day, and so it could be anything from country. Morgan Wallen, Kodi Johnson, Riley Green, all the way to Lil Wayne, Drake, Future, like it’s anything in between. So, I’m kind of a squirrel brain, so I don’t know.”

However, her taste in music might have reverted to country. On August 23, she posted a TikTok that opened with the question, ‘What rap songs do you listen to before games?’

This led Cunningham to dance to Brooks & Dunn’s “Boot Scootin’ Boogie,” one of the greatest country singles of the 1990s.

This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”