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Dolly Parton wanted 'very private' funeral: cousin

By AAP Newswire

Sep 4, 2026

APTOPIX Obit Dolly Parton Reaction — Dolly Parton's death led to an outpouring of grief around the world. -AP

Dolly Parton was laid to rest in a "very quiet" and "very quick" burial.

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The country music legend died on August 25 aged 80 after a brief battle with cancer, and three days later, her family gathered for an intimate funeral at Nashville's Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum.

Her cousin Richie Owens has explained that keeping her final farewell "very, very private" was in accordance with the Jolene singer's wishes.

Owens told Today: "She wanted to keep it very quiet, and the word keeps getting brought up, 'a funeral.' I don't believe that is really the case in the situation.

"It was a burial to be buried beside her husband, and she wanted it very small.

"A few family members were there. Other people, I'm sure, would have liked to have been there, were either out doing other things and stuff. It was very quiet, very quickly done and not for any bad reasons whatsoever. It's just what she wanted. She wanted to keep it very, very private."

Owens thinks Parton - who was buried beside her husband Carl Dean, who died in March 2025 aged 82 - would prefer people to pay their respects by donating to her Imagination Library charity rather than attending an elaborate funeral.