As country legend Dolly Parton quietly mourns the loss of her husband, Carl Dean, she is no doubt comforted by their long and happy marriage. The pair would have celebrated their 59th anniversary on May 30.
82-year-old Carl Dean was as famously private as Dolly was publicly famous. So in many ways, their relationship remains a mystery to fans. Parton has even joked about rumors that her husband didn’t actually exist. In 1984, she told The Associated Press, “A lot of people say there’s no Carl Dean, that he’s just somebody I made up to keep other people off me.” She kidded that she’d like to pose with him on the cover of a magazine, “so that people could at least know that I’m not married to a wart or something.”
Dolly Parton Gives Glimpses Into How Her Marriage Thrived
While the couple has largely kept their relationship private over the years, Parton has given insight into what made their marriage last over the decades. Here are four factors that played a role in their love story.
1. Opposites Attract
According to Dolly Parton’s website, the pair met in 1964 on the day Dolly moved to Nashville from her home in Sevier County, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. Dolly, who was just 18-years-old, was standing outside the Wishy Washy Laundromat. That’s when what she calls “a tall, dark and handsome man” swept her off her feet. Dolly recounted, “I was surprised and delighted that while he talked to me, he looked at my face, a rare thing for me. He seemed to be genuinely interested in finding out who I was and what I was about.”
Parton has said they were opposites from the start, with Dean not only not involved in the music business, but also not interested in the spotlight that Dolly craved.
“They say that opposites attract, and it’s true,” Parton told “People” in 2015. “We’re completely opposite, but that’s what makes it fun. I never know what he’s gonna say or do. He’s always surprising me.”
As for Dean, in a rare interview with “Entertainment Tonight” in 2016, he said of that initial meeting, “My first thought was, ‘I’m gonna marry that girl,’ My second thought was, ‘Lord she’s good lookin.’ And that was the day my life began.”
2. Value Your Relationship
Dolly Parton and Carl Dean married May 30, 1966 with only Dolly’s parents and a preacher in attendance according to Parton’s website.
And they renewed their vows on their 50th wedding anniversary in 2016. Parton told “Entertainment Tonight” at the time, “If I had it to do all over, I’d do it all over again, and we did! I’m dragging him kicking and screaming into the next 50 years. Wish us luck.”
But in between those ceremonies, Parton has spoken a number of times about the importance of valuing your marriage.
In a 1982 interview with Barbara Walters, Parton said she and her husband were both “flirts,” but knew where to set the limit.
“There are these good-looking guys that come on to you pretty strong. And every now and then, I like to come on pretty strong myself,” the country music legend said. “But I know that I’ve got something at home, that I wouldn’t threaten or take a chance on losing for anything in the world.”
Parton also spoke about her husband to Knox News in 2024, saying, “There’s always that safety, that security, that strength. He’s a good man, and we’ve had a good life and he’s been a good husband.”
Parton included a tribute to Dean in her exhibit “The Dolly Parton Experience,” which debuted last year at Dollywood theme park. At the time, Parton said, “He would have never before allowed me to even do that. But I didn’t even tell him I’m doing it. I’m just doing it. He’s older now. So, he can’t balk too much. I won’t listen. But I think he deserves his own little spot.”
In 2015, Parton told “Parade,” “He understands me, he gets me. He’s very secure within himself. He’s never been jealous. It’s a great compliment to me. I realize I’d never find that again in anybody. He loves me and I love him.”
3. Spend Some Time Apart
Dolly Parton has said all of her projects and travel helped keep her marriage strong.
In a 2023 interview with “The Today Show,” Dolly said, “When people say, ‘How did it last so long?’ I say, ‘I stay going,’” Parton said. “So we’re not in each other’s face all the time.”
Meanwhile, her husband was a homebody. “He’s kind of a loner, so he doesn’t really like being with anybody but me — when I’m home — I mean, he’s not one to kind of get out there and socialize that much,” Parton added. “He loves living on the farm, taking care of the property as he has for all these many years, and then, we just have a lot to talk about.”
The singer did stop touring to stay closer to her husband. Her last headlining tour was in 2016, and in 2023, Parton announced that while she’d make special appearances, she would never go on a major tour again.
“I don’t tour anymore,” Dolly told “Country Living.” “I’ve got so many business things I’m doing. And my husband and I are getting older. He’s a little older than I am and I kind of need to be with him.”
4. Spice Things Up
Parton has given glimpses into how she kept her marriage spicy. In fact, the voluptuous singer dressed up like a Playboy bunny for her husband’s 79th birthday in 2021, recreating her 1978 Playboy cover photo.
“He still thinks I’m a hot chick,” the star explained in a video posted on Instagram. “And I’m not going to talk him out of that.”
According to her official website, Dolly also wrote a song for her husband called “From Here to the Moon and Back.” The song was included in her 2012 movie “Joyful Noise.“
The lyrics say: “From here to the moon and back, Who else in this world will love you like that?
Love everlasting, I promise you that. From here to the moon and back.”
Comments
Dolly Parton’s Secrets to a Long, Happy Marriage