Dolly Parton 'Carried a Lot of Guilt' That She 'Didn't Spend Enough Time' With Late Husband Carl Dean Before Her Own Sad Death at Age 80, Says Source

Dolly Parton lived with some regrets before her sad death at age 80 on Tuesday, August 25.

According to a source, the country music icon "carried a lot of guilt" that she "didn't get to spend enough time" with her late husband, Carl Dean, "during their marriage."

Parton was left heartbroken when Dean died at 82 years old on March 3, 2025, with the insider suggesting the "Jolene" singer wished she spent less time on the road and more time at home with her longtime partner — whom she married in 1966.

"Carl was a real homebody, who never liked attention. He's only attended three of her concerts," the source told Globe after Dean's passing last year. "There were times in their marriage when they only saw each other eight weeks in a whole calendar."

Toward the end of Dean's life, Parton made it her mission to make up for lost time.

"Dolly feels her place in life is with Carl now, to love him and to help him during these dark days," a source dished of Parton's final moments with Dean, who was reportedly diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2019. "She'll never forget the love and support he gave her — even if his memories of her fade away."

While Parton's family will miss her immensely, her nephew Bryan Seaver acknowledged the bittersweet aspect of his aunt being able to reunite with her late husband in the afterlife.

"Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by [her late husband] Carl [Thomas Dean], her parents and countless others who have watched her and longed to meet her in the heavens," Bryan expressed in an emotional nearly three-minute clip confirming Dolly's death.

While Dolly and Carl were married for almost 60 years before his 2025 death and her recent passing, the couple never welcomed any children together.

Appearing on Apple TV+’s The Oprah Conversation in 2020, Dolly revealed why she and Carl never became parents.

“I didn’t have children because I believed that God didn’t mean for me to have kids so everybody’s kids could be mine, so I could do things like Imagination Library, because if I hadn’t had the freedom to work, I wouldn’t have done all the things I’ve done,” she told Oprah Winfrey at the time.

“I wouldn’t be in a position to do all of the things I’m doing now," Dolly noted.