Dolly Parton Announces Music Hiatus as She Mourns Husband’s Death
Country star Dolly Parton announced this week that she has placed her music on hold due to the recent death of her husband, Carl Dean, in March.
"My husband passed away three months ago…[there are] several things I've wanted to start, but I can't do it. I will later, but I'm just coming up with such wonderful, beautiful ideas. But I think I won't finish it," she shared in an episode on Khloé Kardashian's "Khloé in Wonder Land" podcast on Wednesday.
"I can't do it right now because I've got so many other things that I can't afford the luxury of getting that emotional right now," she added. "So there are times like that, things like that that will start here a little bit, but I'll write something else, though, if it comes. So I'm just putting that all on hold."
Dean, who passed away on March 3rd in Nashville, Tennessee, had been married to Parton for nearly 60 years and was an inspiration to her, as seen in her song, "Jolene." The two first met 62 years ago at a Wishy Washy Laundromat when Parton was 18 years old and Dean was 21. They got married in 1966 at a church in Ringgold, Georgia.
As reported by CBN News, Parton visited that same church this year to honor what would have been their 59th wedding anniversary.
Despite being on hiatus, Parton told Kardashian that it is not permanent because she finds joy in writing songs.
"Everything begins with a story or a song… I think that's one of the reasons I love to write, because I feel like I'm so connected to God right then," she said.
She also shared that she plans to pay tribute to her husband through music in the future.
"I'm having to really go through a lot trying to figure out how to be without him because I was with him for so long," she told Entertainment Tonight. "I'm holding up, I'm doing as well as one can after 60 years, being with and loving somebody."
"There's a part of me that's happy he's at peace and at rest," she added. "But then, of course, there's that part of me that will miss him forever and long for him every day. For the rest of my life, I'm sure."
In a recent Fox News interview, Parton asserted that she will be reunited with her husband someday in Heaven.
"I am a person of faith, even though I lost him on this earthly plane, and I will miss him every day, having to learn new patterns, new habits, but knowing that I will see him again and knowing that he's in God's arms now and not mine," she said.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/John Lamparski/Stringer
More about Dolly Parton
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Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Taylor Hill/Contributor
Originally published July 11, 2025.
