Tucked into a quiet, pastoral stretch of the Nashville she cherished, Woodlawn Memorial Park is where country music legend Dolly Parton will be laid to rest, Our News Outlet can reveal.
The peaceful cemetery feels far removed from the roaring arenas, red carpets and Hollywood gatherings that framed the Tennessee-born superstar’s extraordinary six-decade career in entertainment.
Yet the oak-shaded grounds will now become Dolly’s final home, where she will rest alongside Carl Dean, her fiercely private husband of nearly 60 years.
Carl, a blue-collar Nashville businessman who spent his life avoiding the glare of fame, was placed in the park’s mausoleum after his death in March 2025 at age 82.
There was little question that Dolly would one day join him there, with her name having already been engraved on his memorial stone well before her death Tuesday at the age of 80.
At Woodlawn, the country queen will take her place among generations of Nashville music royalty buried across the cemetery’s 205-acre grounds, just three miles from the city’s famed Music Row.
Dolly Parton’s representatives said the superstar singer died Tuesday after a “brief battle with cancer.” She was 80 years old
The country music icon will be laid to rest beside Carl Dean, her husband of nearly 60 years, in the Woodlawn Memorial Park Funeral Home Mausoleum, Our News Outlet can reveal
Visitors have long made pilgrimages to see the graves of stars including George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Marty Robbins, Little Jimmy Dickens and Porter Wagoner.
It was Wagoner who gave Dolly her big break when she appeared on his show in 1967, before the pair went on to perform numerous duets.
Their partnership soured when Dolly decided to pursue a solo career – prompting her to pen I Will Always Love You, made famous decades later by Whitney Houston.
Parton’s representatives on Tuesday revealed she died following a ‘brief battle with cancer, though they did not disclose what type of cancer it was.
‘Our beloved Dolly Parton spent her life and career bringing joy, laughter, hope and integrity into everything she touched,’ the statement read.
‘After bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her Earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones.’
Exclusive Daily Mail photos show Dolly’s name had already been carved alongside Carl’s on his memorial stone – a poignant sign that the couple who spent almost six decades together always intended to remain side by side
The couple met at a Nashville laundromat in 1964 when she was just a teenager before marrying in 1966 – the date of which now displayed on their memorial stone
Carl Dean died in March 2025 at the age of 82 from undisclosed causes
Family sources have said Dolly will be remembered at a private ceremony for her immediate family, although the location has not been disclosed.
‘Dolly’s fans and friends from around the world are encouraged to pay tribute to Dolly on social media by tagging or by leaving a message at dollyparton.com.
‘In lieu of flowers the family asks for donations to be made to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library at http://imaginationlibrary.com,’ the statement added.
Her final resting place will also mark a break with tradition after many of her relatives were buried in Sevierville, close to the Smoky Mountains and the community where the Parton family was raised.
Born into a family of 12 children, Dolly arrived in Nashville as a teenager with little more than her talent and an ambition to become a country singer.
It was also where she met Carl outside a laundromat in 1964 when she was 18 and he was 21. They married two years later and remained together for almost 59 years.
It is tempting to say that, since Parton died so soon after her beloved husband’s death, she never really recovered from the loss
Parton enjoyed an illustrious music career that spanned six decades
Dolly went on to become one of the nation’s most recognizable stars of any musical genre with a career spanning 60 years, 49 solo albums and countless hits like 9 to 5 and Jolene.
But Carl rarely appeared at public events with his wife and was famously uncomfortable with the attention that came with her fame.
He ran his own asphalt-paving business, preferring a quiet life away from the cameras.
‘Carl and I spent many wonderful years together,’ Parton wrote after Carl died last year from an undisclosed illness.
‘Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.’
Dolly later told People magazine she was struggling to adjust to life without him.
‘We were together 60 years. I’ve loved him since I was 18 years old,’ she said.
‘It’s a big adjustment just trying to change patterns and habits.
‘But I’ll always miss him, of course, and always love him. He was a great partner to me.’
Prior to her passing Tuesday, Parton had previously raised fan concerns at the end of September, when she announced that unspecified ‘health challenges’ had forced her to postpone her Las Vegas residency, originally scheduled from December 4 to December 13 at the Colosseum Theater at Caesars Palace, until September 2026.
In an interview published just four days before her death, Parton had declared she still had ‘so many things I want to achieve’ and vowed to continue ‘working as long as I can to see everything come to life,’ via People.
She also admitted she had recently been having ‘hard times with my health.’
Dolly will also join fellow country music star Porter Wagoner at the resting place
It was Wagoner, who died in 2007, who gave Dolly her big break when she appeared on his show in 1967. They are pictured together before his death that year
Parton and her husband are now among the who’s who of country royalty buried on the 205-acre grounds at Woodlawn, three miles from Nashville’s famed Music Row
‘I am dealing with some health issues that I just didn’t pay attention to when I was watching over Carl,’ she said, referring to her late husband, who passed away in March 2025.
She later pulled out of multiple public appearances, including a residency in Las Vegas and the opening of a new ride, NightFlight Expedition, at her Dollywood theme park.
The star was supposed to attend the ride’s grand opening on August 14. Instead, a video recording of the star addressing her fans was shared on a screen at the park, which is now regarded as her last public appearance.
‘So my Nashville doctor has kind of clipped my wings, saying, “You ain’t traveling this week.” So I guess if your doctor tells you, “You ain’t traveling this week,” you ain’t traveling this week,’ Parton said in the video message.
Donning a bright pink top adorned in gems and butterfly wings, she looked energized and happy as she discussed her ongoing ‘health issues’ with fans.
‘I’m still in Nashville, and I’m sorry about that,’ she said in the clip. ‘I’m supposed to be there in person like we planned.’
Mourning fans have started leaving flowers, candles, and pictures of Parton on her Hollywood Walk of Fame star in Los Angeles, California
‘We will always love you,’ a sign left by a fan said, while others read ‘in the arms of Jesus’, and ‘we love Dolly’
She reassured her fans that she was still hard at work on projects like her new museum Life of Many Colors in Nashville, her new hotel and Broadway show, Dolly: A True American Musical.
She also insisted that ‘all was going well on the medical end of things.’
The star’s death was first confirmed Tuesday in an Instagram video posted by her nephew Bryan Seaver, who also acted as her head of security.
Seaver hailed his aunt for having ‘lived in the light’ and said she was now ‘in the arms of Jesus’ and the company of her late husband Carl.
‘This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago before I fully absorbed it as a future reality,’ Seaver said.
Fellow stars paid tribute following the news, including Hillary Clinton, Sarah Jessica Parker, Reba McEntire, Maren Morris, Kacey Musgraves, Khloe Kardashian and more.
President Donald Trump also paid tribute to Parton and ordered American flags lowered nationwide for one week in her honor.
The country music legend’s death shocked the world, with grieving fans appearing at her Nashville, Tennessee, home on Tuesday night following the news.
Images shared to social media show state troopers directing traffic as lines of people appeared at her home with flowers and signs.
‘We will always love you,’ a sign left by a fan said, while others read ‘in the arms of Jesus’, and ‘we love Dolly’.
