Dolly Parton has no shortage of support from the country music community in the wake of the devastation loss of her husband Carl Deal and a source exclusively tells Closer old friends Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood have stepped up to comfort the iconic singer and provide hands-on support 24/7.
The couple are “very close to Dolly,” the insider says, “so of course over the years they got to know Carl very well too and they’re mourning him right alongside her. They were among the first people that Dolly called when Carl passed, and they have both been incredible.”
Carl passed away on March 3 at age 82. “He will be laid to rest in a private ceremony with immediate family attending. He is survived by his siblings Sandra and Donnie,” a post on the singer’s Instagram account announced.
“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,” Dolly added. “The family asks for privacy during this difficult time.”
As soon as news broke the “Jolene” singer, 79, had lost her husband of 58 years, the source says Garth, 63, and Trisha, 60, “dropped everything to be with her right after it happened,” and ever since then “they’ve been just a phone call away.”
“Trisha checks in multiple times a day, they’ve sent care packages and flowers and of course lots of prayers. They aren’t the only ones that have stepped up to help, Miley [Cyrus] has been incredible. The whole Cyrus family has been reaching out and offering to help any way that they can, it means the world to Dolly,” the insider adds.
Dolly and her husband kept their nearly six-decade relationship extremely private. Carl was notoriously shy and only accompanied his wife on the red carpet once in 1966, the same year they married.
The “9 to 5” singer confessed that after the event, Carl admitted he hated the spotlight, telling her, “Dolly, I want you to have everything you want, and I’m happy for you, but don’t you ever ask me to go to another one of them dang things again.”
“Carl has never been in the limelight and all, never wanted to be in it. He don’t like it,” Dolly told Apple Music’s “What Would Dolly Do? Radio” in November 2023. Even though he wanted nothing to do with his wife’s fame, Carl was privately supportive of Dolly’s career.
“He’s just always asked me to leave him out of all this. He does not like all the hullabaloo,” Dolly told People in 2016. “He’s always been supportive. He’s like a brother and a father and a friend and a husband and a lover – all of those things to me. I think he’s kind of proud that we’ve been in it this long.”
“She’s still reeling from this,” the source continues. “She’s been preparing for this time for years now because Carl’s health was declining, but she still wasn’t ready. She’s heartbroken but feeling very grateful to have so many friends to lean on.”
