Dolly Parton’s final funeral wish revealed
Richie Owen’s last time with Dolly Parton was all about ‘little Martin guitars’
Dolly Parton's cousin shared why the singer’s burial was kept small.
On September 3, speaking with Today Richie Owens opened up about the legendary country singer and her authentic personality, saying, “What you saw from Dolly is how she was in real life, at home, personable, magical, just very giving.”
“You got the same thing. She didn’t turn it on and off. Dolly was always Dolly. She had the greatest sense of humor.”
It is worth noting here that Dolly died at the age of 80 on August 25, 2026 at Nashville Tennessee, as she was battling cancer.
Dolly’s cousin further revealed the reason behind the country singer’s private funeral, “She wanted to keep it very quiet.”
He went on to say, “The word keeps getting brought up — a funeral — and I don’t think that was really the case in this situation; it was more a burial to be buried beside her husband [Carl Dean]. And she wanted it real small and a few family members were there.”
“It was very quiet and very quickly done. And not for any bad reasons whatsoever, it’s just that’s what she wanted. She wanted to keep it very, very private," Richie added.
The artist shared how Dolly cared about her charitable work even at that time, “She would much rather see people take that $50 they were gonna spend on flowers and give it to her Imagination Library.”
Noting, “She said that many, many times. She really cared about her charities.”
Recalling their last meeting Richie said, “The last time that I was physically with her, we had went back and forth helping find and locate a little guitar that she had from when she was a kid, my father had given her back in 1958, it was a little Martin guitar, it was a little baby-sized style.”
“We got it all documented with the Martin guitar company, and they turned around too because of that and her love for little Martin guitars, they made her a Martin guitar with her butterfly there at the end.”
“That was the last time with her that I was with her and I was able to present her those guitars.”
“She’s always kept things private because she wanted to keep everybody being positive around her. And just put that out there in the world, ‘Don’t worry about me, I’m gonna be fine,” the musician further added.
