Dolly Parton records new album for Carl Dean? Songstress locked in brutal battle with husband's killer disease

Country legend Dolly Parton was forced to retire from tours to take care of her husband, who was diagnosed with a killer disease, a new report claimed.

Sources told Globe Magazine, in its latest edition, that Dolly Parton has been struggling to cope with a devastating diagnosis that changed her life. Her husband of 56 years, Carl Dean, is reportedly stricken with Alzheimer's and is slowly wasting away.

Dolly Parton is said to be determined to spend her final days with the love of her life, whom she allegedly shunted aside for decades to pursue fame and fortune. The "I Will Always Love You" hitmaker was clear that she ended her concert tours due to personal and not professional reasons.

The popular songstress explained, "I want to stay a little closer to my husband. I don't want to be gone for four or five weeks at a time. Something could happen. I would not feel right about that if I were gone and somebody needed me."

A tipster noted that Dolly Parton ditched the road for Carl Dean, saying, "Dolly played more than 3,000 concerts in her career, and Carl only attended two of them. He is a homebody and always preferred to stay at their Tennessee estate. Carl has had zero interest in show business."

However, that also reportedly led to problems that threatened to end Dolly Parton and Carl Dean's long marriage. The informant stated, "There were times they only saw each other for a few weeks in a calendar year, and the two of them even considered divorcing. Dolly sees now she should have kept home fires burning stronger all these years, but she's making up for that now."

The insider furthered that Carl Dean's mental faculties have been wasted to the point that he sometimes does not even recognize Dolly Parton and other family members. He also allegedly suffers from high blood pressure and heart issues related to his Alzheimer's. It claimed, "It's brought on a slew of grave issues, including bladder problems, that have left him with a lack of appetite. Carl is also disoriented and prone to outbursts caused by his confusion."

Globe Magazine reported that, due to the mental fog cast by the savaging brain disease, Dolly Parton finds her $650 million fortune can't buy her more help.

The mole said, "Dolly has had to cut her household staff down to the bone because it confuses Carl having all these people running around. They keep 24-hour nursing staff in case Carl has a medical emergency, but besides that, Dolly [spends time] alone with Carl, taking care of him. And that just shoved touring again out of the picture. Dolly's priority is Carl now, to make him comfortable with whatever time he has left."

A close pal told the magazine, "Carl's immune system is so compromised Dolly believes if he contracted coronavirus or pneumonia, he wouldn't survive it. She's cut their staff down to two to try to limit the people Carl comes in contact with – she won't even have family over."

Though Dolly Parton has retired from touring life, she continues to record. She is said to be preparing to make her first-ever rock n' roll album as a tribute to her hard rock-loving husband.

However, it should be noted that Dolly Parton has yet to confirm the reports saying that she is doing a new album for Carl Dean. So, avid followers of the "Island in the Streams" hitmaker should take all these claims with a pinch of salt until everything is proven true and correct.