Country music legend Dolly Parton marks her 80th birthday today — her first without husband Carl Dean following his death aged 82 last year
Dolly Parton has opened up about the death of her late husband, Carl Dean, as she marks her first birthday without him. Carl died aged 82 in March 2025. While a cause of death was not disclosed, he was reportedly ill for some time before his passing.
In a statement shared on her Instagram page at the time, Dolly wrote: “Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.”
Today, Dolly turns 80, and to mark the milestone she has released a reimagined version of her 1977 song Light of a Clear Blue Morning, featuring Miley Cyrus, Lainey Wilson, Queen Latifah, and Reba McEntire.
Tying her milestone to giving back, proceeds from the song and accompanying video are being donated to pediatric cancer research at Vanderbilt’s children’s hospital.
In the lead-up to her special milestone, the singer sparked health concerns after cancelling many shows, though she is scheduled to return to the stage in September.
It’s not known whether Dolly will hold any private celebrations for her birthday, though in a new interview, she admitted that staying busy has helped her cope with her grief.
Reflecting on her first 10 months without Carl, she told Hello! Magazine: “I feel emotional. People have been so kind and supportive, but it’s all very emotional for me.
“I was 18 years old when we met and we were together for 60 years, that’s a long time, so it’s hard to adjust,” she added.
“It still feels so strange to not have him with me. I miss him so much, but I’ll be fine. I’m keeping busy. I’m working every day. That has been the best thing for me.”
Dolly and Carl married in 1966 at a small service in Georgia two years after they first met. The pair crossed paths when she moved to Nashville at just 18 years old to pursue her singing career.
In previous interviews, the singer has often joked that Carl was the first man who ever really looked at her face instead of her body.
The late businessman largely stayed out of the spotlight, something Dolly has said helped keep their marriage strong.
Opening up about their relationship before his death, she gushed: “It is important to have someone there in your corner and you know they’ll love you for just who you are.
“There’s a great comfort in knowing that someone loves you exactly for who you are, because he fell in love with me before I became a star,” she added to E! News.
Sharing why leading separate lives worked well for them she added: “Because we both do different things and it’s exciting when we are together. We just enjoy each other.
“One of the things that we like to do – not necessarily a date night, we have a lot of date days – we have our little RV and we like to travel around.
Source: Mirror
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