EXCLUSIVE: Dolly Parton Confronted With Afterlife After Family Encounter Paranormal Activity Following Death of Baby Brother — As Singer Grieves Husband Carl Dean's Devastating Passing
Parton rarely slept as she accepted little help over fears of too many people interacting with her immunocompromised husband.
March 5 2025, Published 9:30 a.m. ET
With the tragic passing of her husband of nearly 60 years, Dolly Parton's longtime belief in an afterlife is expected to comfort her as she grieves the massive loss, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Parton, 78, cared for husband Carl Dean as he battled Alzheimer's before dying aged 82 on March 3.
Parton's husband was prone to confusion and had frequent outbursts.
The I Will Always Love You singer confessed her belief in an afterlife started when she was just a small child and had a frightening paranormal encounter.
One night, after her family had settled into their beds at their cabin in Sevierville, Tennessee, Parton said an unexplainable presence approached their front door and caused them all to jolt awake.
She recalled: "We all got up. Even the little ones seemed to sense that something strange had happened.
"The door was still locked and barred from the inside. My brother, who had been sleeping on the couch, said he felt a faint breeze, as if someone had passed closely by him."
The singer said she has 'thousands of songs' ready for release after she dies.
Parton said her parents told her and her siblings to not speak of the incident to anyone "because it was strange and people didn't believe in ghosts."
Days before the experience, Parton's baby brother Larry passed away four days after his birth. This led her mother to fear a "death angel" may have returned to the cabin again.
The singer's family also wondered if the incident was caused by Larry's ghost or a manifestation of her their collective grief.
While this was Parton's first paranormal encounter, it wouldn't be her last.
Dolly Parton planned her own funeral a year before her husabdn Carl Dean passed away.
At Parton and Dean's first Nashville home, which they also shared with some of the singer's siblings and her best friend Judy Ogle, another unexplainable incident unfolded.
The singer recalled: "One night, after locking all the doors and windows, we went to bed. We soon began to hear noises in the kitchen.
"Cabinets opening, water running. We thought Judy had come home early. We weren't too disturbed because we knew Judy had a key.
"When we heard footsteps up stairs and water turning on in the bathroom, I said to Carl, 'I guess Judy and the kids have come back early,' and I rolled over to sleep."
She continued: "In the wee hours of the morning, I got up to weewee. Just as I entered the bathroom, the hot water came on full force, all by itself.
"I screamed in horror, and Carl came running! Now, that was a hard faucet to turn on anyway, and it always took a while for the water to heat up. I was terrified."
While Dean dismissed the experience as paranormal, Parton was adamant that it was supernatural.
Parton said the experiences reaffirmed her belief that there are 'spirits' and 'angels' among us.
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Later, Parton became even more convinced of an afterlife following the death of her grandmother.
Her aunt, Dorothy Jo, confessed she saw her late mother one evening.
Parton recalled: "She said, 'I believe that Mama visited me last night.' Her mother, my grandmother Rena, had recently passed away, at least her Earthly self had.
"Aunt Dorothy Jo explained, 'I felt Mama's presence real strong, standing right by my bed.' Then my willies came back a hundredfold as she went on to say, 'This morning, I found the kitchen window open.'"
While Parton was unable to explain any of the experiences, she said it "made me feel that much more certain that there are spirits and angels with us."
She added: "I'll leave it to you to figure out."
