EXCLUSIVE: How Dolly Parton Started Planning HER Funeral Last Year Amid 'Working Herself into Early Grave' With Hectic Work Schedule and Being Carer for Alzheimer's-Stricken Husband Carl Dean
Dolly Parton planned her own funeral a year before her husabdn Carl Dean passed away.
March 4 2025, Published 7:00 p.m. ET
While taking care of her ailing husband Carl Dean, Dolly Parton planned her own funeral last year, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
As Parton, 79, took care of her final resting arrangements, her inner circle was concerned she was "working herself into an early grave" by taking on so many work commitments – in addition to caring for her late husband, who passed away aged 82 on March 3 after battling Alzheimer's.
Parton started planning her funeral arrangements after losing several loved ones in a two-year period.
While acknowledging she had entered her golden years, the singer said: "I pray that God will show me what to do and will guide me and lead me."
Parton also appeared to recognize her work horse ways and announced in 2022 she was done with touring, but still took on more work as she released her wine collection.
She explained: "You have to stay gone so long on a tour to make it productive and prosperous, and that's a lot of time at my age – I ain't got no years to waste."
The singer said she has 'thousands of songs' ready for release after she dies.
Still, Parton admitted she did not want to walk away from performing altogether and said she "would hopefully drop dead in the middle of a song on stage someday."
She added: "That's how I hope to go. I don't have much of a choice in that, but in the meantime, I'm going to make hay while the sun shines."
As she prepares for her death, Parton has considered her fans and confessed she's prepped "thousands of songs" to be released posthumously because she doesn't want to leave material "in the same shape like Prince or Aretha (Franklin) or anybody that don't plan ahead."
Sources said Parton's inner circle was worried she's over-working herself.
Insiders claimed Parton began working on her funeral arrangements after she lost several loved ones back-to-back, including musicians Loretta Lynn, Naomi Judd and Kenny Rogers, who died between 2020 and 2022.
On their deaths, Parton said she lost "three of my dearest people" in "a very short period of time."
She also lost her brother, Randy, to cancer in January 2021 when he was 67-years-old.
Although Parton isn't open about her own health condition, insiders claimed she pushes herself too hard for someone close to 80.
Our source said: "Dolly puts herself through hell to look exceptional. She's very driven, but it's hard not to worry about the toll it's taking.
"She's running on hardly any sleep, working out every day plus rehearsing, overseeing Dollywood, her charity and taking care of Alzheimer's patient Carl Dean.
"She's amazing, but nobody is indestructible."
In addition to her career commitments, Parton also cared for her husband as he battled Alzheimer's.
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One priority for Parton, in addition to getting her unreleased music in order, was working on the will to her $600million estate.
She explained: "You don't want to leave that mess to your family for people to have to fight over.
"You need to take care of that yourself, even if it's a pain in the a--, and it is."
Our source claimed Parton envisioned her funeral as a "happy star-studded celebration."
Parton confessed her funeral song would be her father's favorite tune, If We Never Meet Again, which she described as an "old country-gospel church song that talks about if we never meet again this side of heaven, I will meet you on that beautiful shore."
She added: "That was my daddy's favorite. We did sing it at his funeral, and I would like it to be sung at mine."
