Dolly Parton died at the age of 80 on August 25, with her team confirming she passed away after a brief battle with cancer. In the days before her death, the country music legend admitted she had a heartbreaking reason for putting her own health concerns to the side.
Health issues ignored while caring for Carl
Parton was forced to pull out of an appearance at Dollywood earlier this month. In a statement, she confessed that it was the death of her beloved husband Carl Dean last year that led her to neglect her own health issues.
She said: “I am dealing with some health issues that I just didn’t pay attention to when I was watching over Carl. It’s not like I haven’t been through hard times with my health. But I think because we live in a 24/7 world with social media, everything gets magnified in ways it wasn’t years ago.”
Carl Dean's health battle
The Jolene hitmaker said she was “still healing” but “still working.” It later emerged that Carl had reportedly been battling Alzheimer’s disease since 2019, with his cause of death kept private in line with the family’s wishes.
Carl died at the age of 82, with TMZ reporting he was battling dementia. Parton and the family never publicly confirmed the diagnosis.
Decision to stop touring
Parton said in 2022: “I do not think I will ever tour again, but I do know I’ll do special shows here and there, now and then. I have no intention of going on a full-blown tour anymore. I’ve done that my whole life, and it takes so much time and energy. I like to stay a little closer to home with my husband. We’re getting older now, and I don’t want to be gone for four or five weeks at a time. Something could happen.”
