Country music legend says creating new music on hold after death of spouse

Country music legend Dolly Parton has been a prolific songwriter during her long career, producing a string of hits.

The creation of new music has been a struggle, though, for the past several months as Parton continues to mourn the death of her husband, Carl Dean. The couple had been together for more than 60 years when Dean died in March.

“My husband passed away three months ago,” Parton said during an interview on Khloé Kardashian’s “Khloé in Wonder Land” podcast, according to Billboard. “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.”

Parton, 79, says she’s taking a break from making music, Parade reports.

“I can’t do it,” she said. “I can’t do it right now because I got so many other things that I can’t afford the luxury of, you know, of getting emotional right now.”

She is confident she’ll eventually be able to produce new music. “I’ll write something else, though, if it comes,” she said. “I’m just putting that all on hold.”

Dean was the inspiration for “Jolene,” one of Parton’s signature hits. Parton told NPR in 2008that she wrote the song about a flirty bank teller who seemed to take an interest in Dean.

Parton and Dean were married in 1966. Despite Parton’s enormous fame, her husband usually remained out of the spotlight.

“Carl and I spent many wonderful years together,” Parton wrote on social media after Dean died. “Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years.”

Parton released the first of her 49 studio albums in 1967. She is one of the best-selling artists of all time, with more than 100 million records sold. She’s had 25 No. 1 singles on the country music charts.

She’s written more than 3,000 songs, many of them becoming hits for other artists.