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Dolly Parton addressed her recent “health challenges” and her grief in the aftermath of losing husband Carl Dean.
The beloved country legend spoke on Dollywood’s opening day on Friday (March 13). In a video shared by Knoxville, Tennessee-based WVLT 8, Parton said, “I’ve not been touring, as you know. I’ve had a few little health issues, and we’re taking good care of them.” Parton shared that she “got worn down and worn out, grieving over Carl and a lot of other little things going on. I just got myself kind of where I needed to build myself back up spiritually, emotionally, and physically. But, all is good. It didn’t slow me down.”
Parton, 80, lost her husband of nearly six decades on March 3, 2025. He was 82. Parton met Dean outside the Wishy Washy Laundromat when she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, pursuing her career as a country artist. The couple said “I do” in Georgia on May 30, 1966. Parton also said at the Dollywood opening day event that she’s “not dating anybody,” after losing her husband. “I think Carl Dean’s waiting for me. If I should show up at the pearly gates with somebody else, he would not like that. He’d be saying, ‘Who’s that little pisser? You leave him outside the gates.'”
After losing Dean, who largely remained out of the spotlight, Parton said she’d “had a little problem.” A kidney stone had “given me an infection. …Don’t worry about me. I’m gonna be OK.” Parton missed several public appearances, and spoke out again to address rumors about her health. She said at that time that the issues were “nothing major, but I did have to cancel some things so I could be closer to home…But I wanted you to know that I’m not dying,” she said. “There’s just a lot of rumors flying around, but I figured if you heard it from me, you’d know that I was OK.”