Dolly Parton proved she can still mix honesty with humour while opening the new season at Dollywood on March 13.
Speaking during the park’s opening-day ceremony – the theme park’s 41st season – the 80-year-old icon shared a personal update after a tough year that included health concerns and the loss of her husband, Carl Thomas Dean.
“I’ve not been touring, as you know,” Parton said in footage shared by WVLT 8. “I’ve had a few little health issues, and we’re taking good care of them.”
She explained that the emotional toll of losing Dean – whom she was married to for 58 years before his death on March 3, 2025 at age 82 – left her needing time to regroup.
“I just kind of got worn down and worn out, grieving over Carl and a lot of other little things going on,” she said.
“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.”
And because this is Dolly, she couldn’t resist slipping in a joke.
Standing beside Dollywood Company President Eugene Naughton, she teased fans not to mistake him for her new husband before clarifying her relationship status.
“I think Carl Dean’s waiting for me,” she said. “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.’ ”
Dean famously stayed out of the spotlight throughout their decades-long marriage after the couple tied the knot in 1966.
Despite recent health setbacks – including postponing her Las Vegas residency and dealing with kidney stones – the I Will Always Love You singer appears to be bouncing back, Dolly-style: slowly, honestly and with a punchline ready.
