Dolly Parton’s first outing since the death of her late husband, Carl Thomas Dean, was all about showing love to her fans.
The 79-year-old attended the 40th anniversary celebration of her Tennessee theme park, Dollywood, on Friday, March 14, where she addressed a crowd of her supporters.
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“Of course I will always love him, and I’ll miss him, but I wanted you to know that I will always love you,” Parton said, per WSPA News. “I just want all of you to know how much I appreciate you for everything that’s happened to us in the last several years.”
“I just want to take a minute to thank all of you for all the flowers and cards, and the well-wishes, for the loss of Carl. You know how I loved him and he would want me to be working today. I expect to be working,” she added.
Parton’s husband of almost 60 years passed on March 3 in the couple’s Nashville home. “Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy,” Parton wrote in a statement at the time.
Parton’s elusive husband was rarely seen publicly throughout the country music star’s lengthy career and it’s clear that Parton is continuing to keep her work and personal life separate as she steps out publicly for the first time since his private funeral.
Parton was at Dollywood to the beginning of her annual I Will Always Love You Music Festival, which runs through April 13. This isn’t, however, her first statement since Dean’s passing. Parton took to Instagram on March 6 to thank fans for their support following “the loss of [her] beloved husband Carl.”
“I can’t reach out personally to each of you but just know it has meant the world to me. He is in God’s arms now and I am OK with that. I will always love you,” she wrote.
The following day, she debuted a moving new single, titled “If You Hadn’t Been There,” as a tribute to her enduring love story with Dean. “Carl and I fell in love when I was 18 and he was 23, and like all great love stories, they never end. They live in memory and in song, and I dedicate this to him,” she wrote via Instagram.
Before you go, click here to see celebrities who found love after their partner died.
