Dolly Parton’s family friend says the star “wasn’t doing well” and retreated from public life after husband Carl Dean’s death.
Nikki Lund, who knew the country music legend through Parton’s longtime manager Donny Nozell, exclusively said that Parton, 80, had endured “a lot of loss in a short amount of time” following Dean’s March 2025 death and the more recent loss of her brother. Lund last saw Parton about a month before her death.
“She wasn’t doing well,” Lund said. “I think it’s like a broken heart, you know?”
Lund noted that the normally prolific entertainer had dramatically slowed her pace. “Normally, she works all the time because she loves it. She’s just a busy bee. She’s always busy. And for the last year, she took a step back from the public eye and wanted to spend more time at home. She wasn’t around anyone as much for the last year,” she said.
Despite her private struggles, Lund said Parton maintained her characteristic resilience when they did meet. “I was very surprised when I saw her after he died. She’s just a resilient person. She had such a faith and such a brightness about her that you just forgot that there were any problems in the world,” Lund continued.
“When you’re around Dolly, it’s like the sun is shining, rainbows and butterflies. I mean, you would never really know. But this was the biggest tragedy loss for her,” Lund added.
When asked whether she believed Dean had been the love of Parton’s life, an emotional Lund said the singer’s death still did not feel real. “My mom said it so perfectly …she’s left the world to go live with her real love. It was so beautiful,” Lund said. “I’m also a little in shock right now. We all knew she was sick, but this was a surprise. I mean, at least to the people that weren’t in her immediate family.”
Lund went so far as to say she believed Parton died of a “broken heart,” though representatives for the superstar confirmed Tuesday that Parton died at age 80 following a “brief battle” with cancer.
Parton herself had spoken candidly about how Dean’s death affected her. Just days before her death, Parton said she had been “dealing with some health issues that I just didn’t pay attention to when I was watching over Carl.”
In the viral moment that preceded her final months, Parton had been open about her grief. Parton and Dean — who ran an asphalt road-paving business in Nashville, where he was born in 1942 — met outside a laundromat when she was 18 in 1964. Dean, Parton’s husband of nearly 60 years, died in March 2025 at age 82. “Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy,” Parton said at the time of Dean’s passing. Months later, in July 2025, Parton said she was taking a brief step back from music because she couldn’t “afford the luxury” of “getting emotional.”
Parton’s nephew and longtime head of security, Bryan Seaver, announced her death Tuesday in an emotional Instagram video on behalf of the Parton and Owens families. “It is an honor that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness. But sadness lies with us, not with Dolly,” he said.
Her reps said in a statement shared: “Our beloved Dolly Parton spent her life and career bringing joy, laughter, hope and integrity into everything she touched. Her unmatched generosity reached the lives of countless people whom she would never meet, yet she was always there to offer a helping hand. Whether it be the hundreds of millions of books donated through her invaluable Imagination Library or funding research that helped create a lifesaving vaccine used around the world, Dolly’s unconditional love for all people was the guiding force for her lasting impact. After bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her Earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones.”
The Grammy winner will be laid to rest beside her beloved husband at Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Nashville, where photos show her name is already inscribed on the bronze frontispiece of the tomb.
