GRAMMY-winning country singer Jeannie Seely has died at the age of 85.

The Grand Ole Opry star died at Summit Medical Center in Tennessee after reportedly suffering from complications from an intestinal infection.

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Seely was battling heath issues for much of 2025, according to PEOPLE which first reported her death.

In a statement given to the media outlet, the star’s rep said that she had undergone “multiple back surgeries this spring for vertebrae repairs,” as well as “two emergency abdominal surgeries.”

She also spent 11 days in the intensive care unit after suffering from pneumonia, the statement added.

Her death comes just months after her husband Eugene Ward from cancer.

Following news of Seely’s death, her longtime friend Dolly Parton posted a tribute to her on Instagram. 

“I have known Jeannie Seely since we were early on in Nashville. She was one of my dearest friends,” Parton wrote. 

“I think she was one of the greater singers in Nashville and she had a wonderful sense of humor.

“We had many wonderful laughs together, cried over certain things together and she will be missed.”

Seely was known for her distinctive soulful vocals which earned her the nickname “Miss Country Soul”.

She found success as an artist in 1996 with her massive hit track Don’t Touch Me, which then got featured at the second spot on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs.

It led the singer to win her first Grammy nomination and win for best female country vocal performance at the ninth awards ceremony.

In the years since, Seely continued to release albums, perform, and host, regularly appearing on country music programming.

Her songs are considered classics, and have been recorded by everyone from Merle Haggard, Ray Price and Connie Smith to Ernest Tubb, Grandpa Jones, and Little Jimmy Dickens.

She appeared nearly 5,400 times at the Grand Ole Opry, which she has been a member of since 1967.

Seely was born in July 1940, in Titusville, Pennsylvania and raised in nearby Townville.

Her love of country music came from her mum and dad who sang and played the banjo.

When she was a child, she sang on local radio programs and performed on local television.

In her early 20s, she moved to Los Angeles to kick-start a career, taking a job with Liberty and Imperial Records in Hollywood.

Seely first got married Hank Cochran, the writer of Don’t Touch Me. The couple got divirced in 1979.

In 2010, Seely married her second husband Gene Ward, a Nashville-based attorney.

But shortly after the wedding, Ward was plagued by health problems and was diagnosed with Cancer. He died in December 2024.

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