Dolly Parton Laid to Rest in Private Family Funeral in Nashville

Dolly Parton was laid to rest in a private family funeral in Nashville on Friday (Aug.

28).

The “Jolene” singer was buried next to her husband of nearly 60 years, Carl Dean, who died in 2025 at 82.

The late singer’s great niece, Lainey Parton, confirmed details about the private ceremony, writing on Instagram , “This is a really hard post for me to make.

I wanted to wait until after my granny was laid to rest yesterday before I tried to put any of this into words.” Related Fans Choose JENNIE's 'Fallen Angel' as This Week's Favorite New Music Nashville Airport Renaming for Dolly Parton Proposed by Tennessee Governor Dolly Parton's Legacy on the Billboard 200 Chart: 7 Decades of Hit Albums According to E! , the small funeral for the singer who died on Aug.

25 at age 80 following what was described as a brief battle with cancer was held at Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Nashville.

While no further details were available about the service at press time, in announcing her death last week, Parton’s nephew, Brian Seaver, revealed in a video that his aunt had a special request for how she should be buried.

“Dolly was a farmer, just like her daddy,” Seaver said.

“He farmed the soil.

She farmed songs and happiness.

Dolly called me and said she wants to rest in a beautiful bed of plush cotton because after a life wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and have some rest.” In a 2014 interview with EW , Parton was asked what song she wanted to be played at her funeral , and while many expected her to pick the beloved “ I Will Always Love You ,” — the song she wrote and recorded and which later became a massive Billboard Hot 100 No.

1 smash for Whitney Houston — Parton chose another poignant song instead.

“I’m sure they’ll be playing ‘I Will Always Love You’ when I die, just like they did with Whitney Houston,” she said at the time.

But the tune Parton actually chose for her own funeral was “If We Never Meet Again,” an old country-gospel hymn that was her father’s favorite, which was performed at his funeral.