Singer Randy Parton, Dolly Parton's brother, dies at 67

Dolly Parton shares the microphone with her brother Randy Parton during a celebration marking the groundbreaking for the Carolina Crossroads Music & Entertainment Center in Roanoke Rapids, N.C. on Nov. 11, 2005. Parton said her brother and singing partner Randy Parton has died of cancer. She said in a statement released Thursday that her brother sang, played guitar and bass in her band, as well hosting his own show at her theme park, Dollywood, in East Tennessee. He was 67. (Todd Wetherington/The Daily Herald via AP)

NASHVILLE — Country star Dolly Parton said her brother Randy Parton, who sang and performed with her, as well as at her Dollywood theme park, has died. He was 67.

Parton, who turned 75 this week, said in a statement released on Thursday that her brother died of cancer. They were among 12 children in the Parton family, raised in Sevierville, Tennessee.

“We are a family of faith and we believe that he is safe with God and that he is joined by members of the family that have gone on before and have welcomed him with joy and open arms,” Parton said in a statement.

Randy Parton sang, played guitar and bass in his sister's band, and had hosted his own show at the Tennessee theme park since the opening in 1986. He also released music on his own. Parton said her duet with him on “Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle To You” would “always be a highlight of my own career.”

His last recording was a song with Dolly and his daughter Heidi called “You Are My Christmas” that was on Parton's most recent Christmas album.

“He shined on it just like he's shining in heaven now,” Parton said.