Another classic Dolly story.
On August 25, 2026, Dolly Parton sadly passed away at 80-years-old in Nashville Tennessee. Dolly had been dealing with undisclosed health issues for the last year or so, and she previously shared that she was having issues with severe kidney stones. Dolly’s reps confirmed she sadly died following a “brief battle with cancer,” though the specific kind was not revealed.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Carly Dean, who passed just 17 months before Dolly, on March 3rd, 2025, and the famous legend goes that they met outside of the Wishy Washy laundromat in Nashville in 1964, the same day that Dolly moved to Music City, as fate would have it.
They dated for two years, and decided they wanted to get married. And actually, at the time of their wedding, Dolly’s newfound record label didn’t want her to get married at all. They thought it might tarnish her image, and as we all know, Dolly did what she wanted anyways… so she and Carl Dean secretly ran off to Ringgold, Georgia, along with Parton’s mom Avie Lee as a witness, and headed for the local courthouse.
They had a fairytale kind of love story, and during an appearance on the Rolling Stone Nashville Now podcast, Dolly’s former duet partner Brad Paisley opened up about a great Dolly and Carl story, from when he and Dolly recorded their beautiful song “When I Get Where I’m Going.”
It was written by George Teren and Rivers Rutherford, and released in October of 2005 as second single from Brad’s album Time Well Wasted. It was his 14th career single, and ultimately became Dolly’s 25th and final Billboard #1 (and her first since 1991’s “Rockin’ Years”), and Paisley’s fifth.
The song was nominated for a Dove Award for Country Recorded Song of the Year, and it won two ACM Awards for Video of the Year, Vocal Event of the Year and was nominated for Song of the Year. The song also won a CMA Award for Vocal Event of the Year and was nominated for Single and Video of the Year. It was a country radio #1, and it became a minor crossover hit too, peaking at #39 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
And Paisley recalled Carl driving Dolly to the location where they filmed the music video for the song, saying he was “happy to be in the shadows.” Carl famously stayed out of the spotlight, but he was still very supportive of his wife, and even though he never came in, he gave Paisley a wave when they walked out and that was that.
But, of course, Carl was “just so happy to drive her around”:
“Carl Dean, her husband, was just so happy to be in the shadows. She was in here a while. We walked around and talked in the house and had a great day. And she went out to get in the car, and I see him waving. He didn’t even come in! He was just so happy to drive her around. And she got in the car, and she drove away.”
Their marriage was understandably very private, but all of the stories I’ve heard about Dolly and Carl since she passed are just like this… simple and beautiful.
Paisley added that “would do anything she believed in,” and it was an easy “yes” when Paisley reached out about “When I Get Where I’m Going”:
“Dolly would do anything she believed in. When I cut ‘When I Get Where I’m Going,’ I said, ‘I’m cutting this, but I need something that takes it into the angelic realm,’ and so I sent it to Dolly and said, ‘Would you sing this with me?’ She wrote back, ‘Absolutely.'”
Dolly was on the cover of People last year, where she opened up about her marriage with Carl:
“My husband was very independent, and he liked being alone. He didn’t really care about being with anybody but me. He had a few friends, but he loved being on the farm and doing his thing. He was kind of a loner, which worked out best for us.”
She added in another interview with People:
“They say that opposites attract and it’s true. We’re completely opposite, but that’s what makes it fun. I never know what he’s gonna say or do. He’s always surprising me.”
They have surely been reunited, as both of them finally got where they’re going… it’s hard to listen to this song without getting teary-eyed now:
“When I Get Where I’m Going”
When Dolly passed, Paisley shared a beautiful tribute to her:
“I never imagined this day would come. Getting to know Dolly was life changing, but not just for me. For everyone. She seemed immortal. And in the spirit of what we sang together on this song, I believe she is.
It won’t be the same down here without you Dolly. But what a legacy of goodness and art you leave for all of us. Goodbye hero. We will always love you.”
Amen to that…
For the CMA Presents I Will Always Love You: A Celebration of Dolly Parton show that aired earlier this week, Paisley performed the song with Sierra Hull:
The full podcast is available below.
