Dolly Parton Opens Up About the Heartache of Sharing Her Personal Life After Her Husband’s Death. ML
Country legend Dolly Parton has spoken out on the death of her husband Carl Dean and how she has been dealing with grief.
Carl and Dolly had been married for over 60 years and met when the country singer was only 18. They met outside a laundromat on the very first day she moved to Nashville from Sevierville to start a career in country music. The couple secretly wed in 1966 and had no children together.
Speaking to People, she said, “I’ve had to wear my heart on my sleeve for a long time now, and I cry easier than I used to.
“But it’s just leaving your life wide open for everybody to look right at you, right through you and right into you … I hope they see my heart.”
The 79-year-old singer also assured fans she is still in good health and shared her outlook on aging as she approaches her 80th birthday. The Jolene hitmaker is currently on the mend after suffering from kidney stones and an associated infection, which led her to postpone her live performances through December.
After unexpectedly canceling her shows, Dolly’s sister, Freida Parton, sparked widespread panic after sharing that she was “up all night praying” for the singer. This later led Dolly to share her own urgent video message to fans, in which she assured that she “ain’t dead yet.”
Now, the Tennessee native has shared her thoughts on aging as she promotes her newly released book Star of the Show: My Life on Stage, which hit bookshelves on Nov. 11.
Speaking on her milestone birthday in Jan, Dolly said, “People say, ‘Well, you’re going to be 80 years old.’ Well, so what? Look at all I’ve done in 80 years. I feel like I’m just getting started.”
She continued, “I know that sounds stupid, but unless my health gives way, which right now I seem to be doing fine…I think there’s a lot to be said about age. If you allow yourself to get old, you will. I say, ‘I ain’t got time to get old!’ I ain’t got time to dwell on that. That’s not what I’m thinking about.”
Outside of suffering from kidney stones, Dolly previously revealed that she suffers from Endometriosis, which is a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside of it, causing pain and infertility. Dolly previously underwent a partial hysterectomy to treat this disease in 1985.
Back in 2019, Dolly shared that she was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy. This is a temporary facial paralysis that affects one side of the face and is caused by inflammation of the facial nerve. She later made a full recovery from this and no longer shows any signs of it.
During the interview, Dolly also shared the inspiration behind her new book, which chronicles Dolly’s early years singing for her family, her formative years with Country legend Porter Wagoner, and her decision to break out on her own.
Sharing the inspiration behind writing the novel, Dolly said, “You know, I have just been going so fast my whole life. And I just start thinking, ‘How in the world did I even have a life? How did I even get it done?’”
She continued, “I really realized when I was putting this book together just how much I had sacrificed in my life. I never had children, so at least I didn’t have a guilty feeling. I’m thankful that I got to see my dreams come true.”
While Dolly never welcomed any children of her own, she did share a loving marriage with her late husband Carl Dean, whom she spent 60 years with. Carl recently passed away in March at the age of 82 years old with his cause of death not disclosed.
