Dolly Parton is taking a break from writing new music to grieve

Dolly Parton is pictured in March 2025 in Nashville, Tenn. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

There won’t be new music coming from Dolly Parton in the near future, but listeners can still enjoy her art.

During a recent conversation with Khloé Kardashian for her podcast “Khloé in Wonder Land,” Parton reflected on her grief over her late husband, Carl Dean, who died in March at age 82.

The country music legend said when it comes to songwriting, “Several things I’ve wanted to start, but I can’t do it.”

“I will later, but I’m just coming up with such wonderful, beautiful ideas. But I think I won’t finish it,” she said. “I can’t do it right now, because I got so many other things and I can’t afford the luxury of getting that emotional right now.”

“Everything begins with a story or a song,” Parton noted.

“I think that’s one of the reasons I love to write, because I feel like I’m so connected to God right then,” she said.

Kardashian enjoyed their conversation.

“Dolly, you are even more magical in person! (if that’s even possible),” she wrote in the caption of a video of her and Parton. “I still feel like I’m dreaming!”

Parton has given her fans something to soon look forward, however. She recently announced a forthcoming residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nev.

“I haven’t worked Vegas in years and I’ve always loved singing there,” she said in a statement shared in the press release about the residency. “I’m looking so forward to the shows in The Colosseum at Caesars and I hope you are as well. See you there!”

Parton’s last Las Vegas residency was 32 years ago. The new shows are scheduled for December.