“I’m At Peace That He’s At Peace”: Dolly Parton Made Her First Public Appearance After Her Husband’s Death, And Said That He “Suffered A Great Deal” Before He Passed

Earlier this month, Dolly Parton announced that her husband of almost 60 years, Carl Thomas Dean, had died at age 82. The pair first met outside a laundromat in Nashville, TN, in 1964, when Dolly was 18 years old and Carl was 21, and had been happily married since 1966.

Sharing the sad news of Carl’s passing, Dolly issued a brief statement to her social media pages that read: “Carl Dean, husband of Dolly Parton, passed away March 3rd in Nashville at the age of 82. He will be laid to rest in a private ceremony with immediate family attending. He was survived by his siblings Sandra and Donnie.”

Quoting Dolly directly, the post added: “Carl and I spent many wonderful years together, words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy. The family has asked for privacy during this difficult time.”

Two days later, Dolly posted on social media again to thank everybody for their love and support. She wrote: “This is a love note to family, friends, and fans. Thank you for all the messages, cards, and flowers that you’ve sent to pay your respects for the loss of my beloved husband Carl. I can’t reach out personally to each of you but just know it has meant the world to me. He is in God’s arms now and I am okay with that. I will always love you.”

And last week, Dolly made her first public appearance since Carl’s death, where she reassured fans that she is “doing better” than she thought she would be. The 79-year-old star surprised season pass holders at the opening ceremony of her Dollywood theme park. While it is tradition for Dolly to attend this annual event in person, it would have been completely understandable if she’d chosen to skip this year’s.

However, per local outlet Knox News, Dolly told the crowd that she wanted to be with them after an emotional couple of weeks. She explained: “I need to laugh. I need some fun, so I’m probably gonna be stupid. I’ve been crying enough the last week or two.”

Dolly opened up some more in an interview with Knox News, where she also reminisced about Carl’s secret visits to her theme park. She told the publication: “I’m doing better than I thought I would. I’ve been with him 60 years. So, I’m going to have to relearn some of the things that we’ve done. But I’ll keep him always close.”

“I’m at peace that he’s at peace, but that don’t keep me from missing him and loving him… It’s a hole in my heart, but we’ll fill that up with good stuff and he’ll still always be with me,” she added, also sharing that Carl had “suffered a great deal.”

Dolly went on to recall how Carl would go to Dollywood when she was out of town and queue up with other patrons to buy his ticket. While he didn’t enjoy the rollercoasters, he did indulge in the food that is available at the theme park, and enjoyed walking around to offer up suggestions to Dolly later on.

Dolly’s career first took off a year after she married Carl, and she quickly achieved global fame. However, Carl has always avoided the spotlight and was a notoriously private person. During a 2024 appearance on the Dumb Blonde podcast, Dolly recalled the one time she convinced him to attend an awards show with her back in 1967, where she won BMI Song of the Year. Carl apparently told her afterward: “I wish you the best, but don’t ever ask me to go to another one of these damn things because I ain’t going.”

Needless to say, I’m so glad to hear that Dolly is doing well after such a heartbreaking loss.