Dolly Parton takes break from songwriting after husband’s death

Dolly Parton is putting new music on hold following the death of her husband, she disclosed on the podcast “Khloé in Wonder Land.”

The 79-year-old country legend sat down with host Khloé Kardashian to discuss her faith, career and life advice on Wednesday’s episode. Though famously private about her marriage, Parton opened up about her decision to press pause on music while she grieves her husband of almost 60 years, Carl Dean, who died in March at 82.

“Several things I’ve wanted to start, but I can’t do it,” Parton said. “I will later, but I’m just coming up with such wonderful, beautiful ideas. But I think I won’t finish it. I can’t do it right now, because I got so many other things and I can’t afford the luxury of getting that emotional right now.”

Parton and Dean wed May 30, 1966, and remained together until his death. Despite Parton’s fame, Dean avoided the spotlight and was rarely seen in public.

“We were so good for each other, because he’s a total loner,” Parton told Kardashian. “We could just be in the house all day and say two or three words, didn’t matter. Or we could talk all afternoon or lay in bed and talk at night “

“I really think that there’s just certain personalities that are great for each other. And we were together 61 years,” she said. “We were just so different, but we were so similar.”

Parton also noted that their zodiac signs were compatible: She’s a Capricorn and he was a Cancer.

The “Jolene” singer won her first Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) award in 1966, the year she and Dean married. He rented a tuxedo and got dressed to go to the ceremony but ended up taking it off before making it out the door, Parton said.

“I knew right then that I’m just gonna keep him private as best I can, never ask him to do nothing,” she said. “But he was very proud of me. We got along great, because we didn’t have nothing to fight over like that.”

Parton released a song dedicated to Dean, “If You Hadn’t Been There,” days after his death.

“Oh you are my rock / A soft place to land / My wings, my confidence / You understand / Your willingness / Beyond compare / No I wouldn’t be here / If you hadn’t been there,” she sings on the heartfelt track.

Kardashian is a longtime Parton fan. In 2024, her sister Kim Kardashian threw her a “Khloéwood”-themed 40th birthday party inspired by Dollywood in Tennessee. Kardashian and Parton collaborated earlier this year on a new denim line for Kardashian’s Good American fashion label: Dolly’s Joleans.

“They make your butt look good,” Parton said of the jeans, which she was wearing during the interview. “Even if you don’t have a good butt, they make it look good. And if you got a good butt, it’s amazing.”

During the hourlong conversation, Parton and Kardashian discussed everything from the singer’s love of makeup to Whitney Houston’s cover of Parton’s “I Will Always Love You.” Parton also shared her reaction to Beyoncé’s version of her 1973 hit “Jolene,” which appeared on “Cowboy Carter” last year.

“She flipped it around, thinking, ‘You think you can take my man?’ ” Parton said. “But she’s that cool. … I loved it, because as a songwriter, you love to hear how other people interpret your songs. And the fact that she did it, I knew I was gonna make a lot of money.”

In February, Parton was featured on the deluxe edition of Sabrina Carpenter’s “Short n’ Sweet.” She joined the 26-year-old pop star on a twangy reimagination of her chart-topping single “Please Please Please.”

When asked about her plans for the future, Parton said she didn’t know but that she has faith there’s more in store for her.

“I always look at my life like it’s been a tree. It had roots, deep roots, then it had all the limbs, then it had all the little leaves. Everything branches out to something else,” Parton said. “I know God’s gonna give me something else. I try to leave myself wide open. I try to keep myself very private in my world so I can hear what I’m supposed to know. And that I can act on. And I’ll go for it, and I’ll work it to death.”