I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU Inside Dolly Parton’s intensely private 60 year marriage to husband Carl – and why he never appeared in public
Dolly shared a heartbreaking tribute to her late partner, who she previously dubbed as “reclusive”, with the Jolene singer penning: “Carl and I spent many wonderful years together.
“Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years.
“Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.”
Dolly did not reveal her husband’s cause of death but had previously been diagnosed with alzheimer’s disease in 2019.
The country icon and her beloved husband had been married for six decades, with their relationship largely kept out of the spotlight and underwraps.
Very much loved up despite their marriage being incredibly private and kept away from the public eye, Dolly sometimes spoke about Carl in interviews.
Rarely seen by each other’s sides in public, the pair had a strong bond that clearly stood the test of time.
DOLLY AND CARL’S MEET CUTE
The pair met when they were very young back in 1964.
Dolly, who was 18 at the time, met Carl, who was 21, outside their local laundrette in the mid 60s.
Within two years of meeting and falling madly in love, the pair were wed.
Dolly Parton shares rare details about her reclusive husband Carl Thomas Dean and their relationship on Today show
Speaking about how they met in a candid chat with the New York Times, Dolly previously opened up about their meet cute.
“I’d come to Nashville with dirty clothes. I was in such a hurry to get here — and after I’d put my clothes in the machine, I started walkin’ down the street, just lookin’ at my new home, and this guy hollered at me, and I waved.
“Bein’ from the country, I spoke to everybody,” she said.
She then shared: “He came over and, well, it was Carl, my husband.”
Dolly Parton’s Career Highlights
Dolly Parton is one of the most well-known country stars in the business, and her career has continued to flourish. Here’s a look at the highlights of the music legend’s decades-long career.
- Dolly wrote and released her first single, Puppy Love, including the B-track Girl Left Alone, on Goldband Records when she was 11 years old.
- Although her single wasn’t a big hit, she ended up performing at Nashville, Tennessee’s Grand Ole Opry for the first time at 13 years old and was introduced by Johnny Cash.
- Dolly made the Billboard country charts in January 1967 with two singles from Monument Records: Dumb Blonde and Something Fishy.
- The singer earned her first number-one hit in 1971 with her single Joshua.
- In 1974, Dolly’s arguably most well-known song, Jolene, reached number one on the country charts.
- Her music continued to succeed, and she was awarded the Female Vocalist of the Year award at the CMAs in 1975.
- Dolly’s track, Here You Come Again, achieved platinum status in 1978, and the album earned her a Grammy award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance.
- In 1980, Dolly starred in her first film, 9 to 5, alongside Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda and released her hit song of the same name.
- The star opened her famed amusement park, Dollywood, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, in 1986.
- Later that year, she was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
- At 75 years old, Dolly recreated her 1978 Playboy Cover for her husband Carl Dean’s birthday.
- In May 2022, it was announced that Dolly would officially be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, alongside Eminem, Lionel Richie, Carly Simon, Eurythmics, Duran Duran, and Pat Benatar.
Meanwhile, Carl also opened up in a very rare interview, too.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight about the first time he saw Dolly, he said: “My first thought was I’m gonna marry that girl.
“My second thought was, ‘Lord she’s good looking.’ And that was the day my life began.”
RENEWING THEIR VOWS
For the couple’s 50th wedding anniversary in 2016, they decided to renew their vows.
In May of that year in Nashville, Dolly and Carl said “I Do” again when they had a “simple little ceremony” at their chapel at their place.
Dolly previously spoke of how she got “dressed up in the most beautiful gown you’ve ever seen” while her husband looked “like a handsome dude out of Hollywood”.
Speaking to Rolling Stone about the special day, Dolly said they didn’t plan anything big as they “didn’t want any kind of strain, any kind of tension, any kind of commotion”.
She said: “We just had just a few people who needed to be there to make sure they got the pictures and the few things that we needed. We just had fun with it.”
CARL WAS A ‘LONER’
Dolly previously spoke about how Carl was “a loner”.
Speaking to People around the time of their 50th anniversary, Dolly explained how he “doesn’t particularly care about being around anybody but me”.
She said: “He’s just always asked me to leave him out of all this. He does not like all the hullabaloo.”
The hitmaker also shared with Parade that her man was “very secure within himself”.
She told the outlet: “This is his statement: ‘Well, hell, I know it’s not easy out there. I’d feel less about any man that didn’t fall in love with you’.”
And in 2020 she revealed how he didn’t want to be in the spotlight “at all”.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, she said: “It’s just not who he is.
“He’s like a quiet, reserved person and he figured if he ever got out there in that, he’d never get a minute’s peace and he’s right about that.
“I’ve always respected and appreciated that in him, and I’ve always tried to keep him out of the limelight as much as I can.
“He [Carl] said, ‘I didn’t choose this world, I chose you, and you chose that world.
“But we can keep our lives separate and together.’ And we do and we have.”
KEEPING THINGS ‘SPICY’
In 2022 Dolly revealed to the world how she keeps her marriage to husband Carl “spicy”.
Speaking to E! News, Dolly explained how she likes to “dress up” for Carl.
“Every day, I put on some makeup and fix my hair because I think, ‘Well, the whole world, I’m out here and everybody else sees me all dressed up, and I’m not going to just kind of go home and just flop on him’.”
She continued: “Nobody wants to make out with a slouch! It’s important to me that I look as good as I can.
“I think it kind of helps keep things spicy.”
SEXY SURPRISE
In 2021 for her husband’s birthday, Dolly decided to spice things up for her man even more than usual.
Recreating her 1978 Playboy cover look, Dolly slipped into a black bodysuit with bunny ears and a bedazzled bow tie to give her husband a thrill.
Taking to social media to document the moment at the time, Dolly said: “Today is July 20, it’s my husband Carl’s birthday.
“My husband always loved the original cover, so I was trying to think of something to do to make him happy.
“He still thinks I’m a hot chick, after 57 years, and I’m not gonna try to talk him out of that. And I hope he agrees.”
