Dolly Parton proved she can still mix honesty and humor as she opened the new season at Dollywood on March 13.
Speaking at the park’s opening ceremony – the theme park’s 41st season – the 80-year-old icon shared a personal update following a difficult year marked by health issues and the loss of her husband, Carl Thomas Dean.
“I haven’t been touring, as you know,” Parton said in footage shared by WVLT 8. “I’ve had some little health issues and we’re taking good care of it.”
She explained that the emotional toll of losing Dean – to whom she was married for 58 years before his death on March 3, 2025 at the age of 82 – left her needing time to collect herself.
“I just got a little burned out, grieving because of Carl and a lot of other little things that are going on,” she said.
“I just found myself where I needed to rebuild myself spiritually, emotionally and physically. But it’s all good. It hasn’t slowed me down.”
And since it’s Dolly, she couldn’t help but slip in a joke.
Standing alongside Dollywood Company President Eugene Naughton, she teased fans not to mistake him for her new husband before clarifying their relationship status.
“I think Carl Dean is waiting for me,” she said. “If I had to show up at the pearly gates with someone else, he wouldn’t like it. He’d be like, ‘Who’s that little pissed off guy? You’re leaving him at the gates.’ »
Dean stayed out of the spotlight throughout their decades-long marriage after the couple tied the knot in 1966.
Despite recent health issues – including postponing her Las Vegas residency and treatment for kidney stones – the I will Always Love You The singer seems to bounce back, Dolly-style: slowly, honestly and with a punchline ready.
