Dolly Parton’s cousin has broken his silence about the country legend’s private burial.
Richie Owens, Parton’s cousin, said’s “Today” show on Thursday that the late singer deliberately kept her final farewell out of the public eye. “She wanted to keep it very quiet,” he said. “The word keeps getting brought up, ‘a funeral.’ I don’t believe that is really the case in the situation.”
“It was a burial to be buried beside her husband, [Carl Thomas Dean],” Owens continued. “She wanted it very small.”
The “9 to 5” singer was laid to rest on Aug. 28 at Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Nashville, just three days after her death at age 80. About a dozen loved ones gathered for the ceremony, which Owens described as moving swiftly and without fanfare. “It was very quiet, very quickly done and not for any bad reasons whatsoever,” he said. “It’s just what she wanted. She wanted to keep it very, very private.”
Owens noted that some family members and friends were absent simply because they were “doing other things and stuff,” not due to any conflict. “A few” loved ones attended, while “other people [who] would have liked to [have] been there” could not make it.
Parton’s nephew and head of security, Bryan Seaver, oversaw the arrangements. Seaver was “in charge” of the burial, coordinating with police and security personnel and greeting arrivals, according to sources. He had also been the family member who announced Parton’s death on behalf of the relatives.
The Grammy winner was buried beside Dean, who died in March 2025 at age 82. It is believed she was laid to rest in a cotton dress and her signature stilettos. “Dolly called me and said she wants to rest in a beautiful bed of plush cotton because, after a life wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and have some rest,” Seaver said when sharing news of her passing.
Owens also addressed why Parton concealed the severity of her health struggles before her death. “She, of course, posted herself that she had been going through health problems, but no one really knew what a lot of that was, including myself,” he explained on “Today.”
“She always kept things private because she always wanted to keep everybody being positive around her and put that out there in the world,” Owens added. “Just, ‘Don’t worry about me, I’m going to be fine.'”
Parton had canceled multiple Dollywood appearances due to health issues that she said she “just didn’t pay attention to” while caring for Dean prior to his passing. She died after what was described as a “brief battle” with unspecified cancer.
The burial’s simplicity reflected a lifetime of controlling her own narrative. Even in death, Parton stage-managed the details, from the guest list to the dress code, ensuring her exit matched the humble persona she maintained despite global fame.
