Country music icon Dolly Parton opened her heart and history in her song, “If You Hadn’t Been There,” a raw, intimate tribute to her late husband Carl Dean, who passed away on March 3, 2025, at age 82.

Parton and Dean "could just be in the house all day and say two or three words — didn’t matter," the country icon told Khloé Kardashian

Music icon Dolly Parton opened up this week about her struggles with songwriting following her husband’s death. The country singer’s husband, Carl Thomas Dean, died in March at the age of 82. Parton, 79, sat down with Khloé Kardashian for an episode of her podcast, “Khloé in Wonder Land,” to discuss her work, past, present and future.