Dolly Parton Mourns Devastating Loss 1 Year After Husband’s Death

Dolly Parton is mourning her brother, Coy “Denver” Parton, following his death at 82.

On Thursday, July 23, Coy died in Sevierville, Tennessee, according to an obituary from Atchley Funeral Home. A cause of death was not shared. Dolly’s brother was a crane operator who built bridges; he was also an avid hunter and a homestead farmer.

Coy was preceded in death by his wife, Carolyn Parton, and his brothers, Larry Parton, David Parton, Randy Parton and Floyd Parton. In addition to his two daughters, Chris Parton and Jennifer Parton, he is survived by his siblings: Willadeene Buzzeo, Robert Parton Jr., Stella Parton, Cassie Griffith, Freida Parton, and Rachel George.

As of writing, Dolly has not released a public statement about Coy’s death.

The death came more than a year after the “9 to 5” singer, 80, lost her husband, Carl Dean, who died at 82 on March 3, 2025.

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“I fell in love with Carl Dean when I was 18 years old,” Dolly wrote in an Instagram tribute just days after her husband’s death. “We have spent 60 precious and meaningful years together. Like all great love stories, they never end. They live on in memory and song.”

The Queen of Country continued, “He will always be the star of my life story, and I dedicate this song to him. ‘If You Hadn’t Been There.'”

Dolly and her 11 siblings were raised by their parents, Robert Lee Parton Sr. and Avie Lee Caroline Parton, in a small cabin in East Tennessee.

“With that many brothers and sisters, there was plenty of teasing and fighting,” she told The Guardian in 2016. “But we were all in it together.”