Stella Parton was asked in a recent interview if she thought her sister, Dolly Parton, died of a "broken heart" after Dolly's husband, Carl Dean, died in 2025.
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Stella Parton Talked About the Death of Her Sister
Gayle King spoke with Stella on the Sep. 10 episode of CBS Mornings about Dolly and the relationship the "Queen of Country" had with Dean, who died at age 82.
The 77-year-old singer-songwriter said it was work, not Dolly's grief over Dean, that caused her to neglect her health.
"I think she was very sad, but I don't think she, I don't think that's why she got sick," Stella said. "I think she worked too hard and didn't maybe take as good of care of herself as she should have."
King then asked Stella whether Dolly put Dean first while caring for him.
"To a point," she replied. "I know their relationship was very unique and very deep and loyal. And I think it broke her heart to see him in the shape that he got to before he passed away.
"But I don't think that's what made her sick. I think my sister worked so hard for so long and just kept going. Even to the last conversation I had with her, she was working. That was her passion."
Carl Dean "Adored" Dolly Parton
Stella also discussed the unusual relationship between Dolly and Dean.
"He adored her," she said. "He was fascinated with her."
Stella added, "He thought she was funny, like Tinkerbell — and he was quiet and shy."
But despite being "proud of her," Dean didn't care about Dolly's stardom "at all," Stella said. She recalled a moment when she went home with the couple after Dolly won her first award in 1967.
"He went to the BMI Awards, and I went back home with them that night, and he was yanking off his tie and everything because he couldn't stand all that crowd," she said.
Stella said that Dean told Dolly that he was "never doing this again."
"He would have rather her be at the house with her hair up in a ponytail, and barefooted, cooking in the kitchen and just messing around the house. I think that's what he would have preferred," Stella added.
But that didn't mean Dean didn't care for Dolly.
"He loved her enough to let her be what she was," Stella said. "That's how I see it."
Dolly died on Aug. 25 at the age of 80. She and Dean had no children. You can watch the interview with Stella below.
