Reba McEntire Show’s Support for Dolly Parton After Husband Carl Dean’s Death: ‘Thoughts and Prayers’

Reba McEntire showed her support for Dolly Parton amid her time of grief while appearing at NBC’s Opry 100: A Live Celebration on Wednesday, March 19.

Dolly, 79, was not in attendance at the event, but was certainly kept in everyone’s thoughts and prayers after the death of her longtime husband, Carl Thomas Dean, on March 3.

“It’s been a great night of celebration, but of course, it’s just not the same without you,” Reba, 69, said, acknowledging Dolly’s loss.

“Dolly, everybody here at the Opry and around the world wants to send you our thoughts and prayers,” the Happy’s Place actress added. “And you gotta know, we will always love you.”

Several artists then got together on stage to sing “I Will Always Love You,” which Dolly wrote and recorded in 1973.

Dolly did appear virtually at the Opry 100: A Live Celebration, sharing a video message that played during the show.

“Well, hello, I am Dolly Parton and I am a proud member of the Grand Ole Opry, and I’m so sorry that I can’t be there with everybody in person. But, of course, you know my heart is with you and my spirit is with you,” she said in the clip.

“I wanted to be on the Grand Ole Opry my whole life when I was a little kid, cause that’s just what you do when you sing country music, that’s where you want to go,” the “9 to 5” singer added. “And I am proud to say that my family, all the folks at the Grand Ole Opry, are very near and dear to me. And I have been a member of the Opry for 56 years.”

Dolly announced Carl’s death in a statement shared on Instagram on March 3. He was 82 years old.

“Carl and I spent many wonderful years together,” she wrote. “Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.”

In the days that followed, she shared another message thanking her fans for their support after Carl’s passing.

“This is a love note to family, friends, and fans. Thank you for all the messages, cards, and flowers that you’ve sent to pay your respects for the loss of my beloved husband Carl,” she wrote on Instagram on March 6. “I can’t reach out personally to each of you but just know it has meant the world to me. He is in God’s arms now and I am okay with that. I will always love you.”

Dolly made a public appearance at her theme park, Dollywood, on March 14 for the 40th annual opening ceremony. “I will always love him, and I miss him,” she told attendees at the Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, event, of her late husband.

After the event, Dolly told Knox News she felt “at peace” after Carl’s death.

“I’m doing better than I thought I would,” the country music icon said about her grief. “I’ve been with him 60 years. So, I’m going to have to relearn some of the things that we’ve done. But I’ll keep him always close.”