Dolly Parton’s husband of 59 years, Carl Dean, has died at the age of 82. They both met in Nashville in 1964 and got married in 1966. Dean never attended any public events and kept his marriage to Parton very private. When Parton’s stardom as a country singer soared, Dean supported her while staying away from her star status.
The couple had a long and loving marriage, which Parton described as kind of an open relationship. She shared that her husband was not the jealous type and was okay with her flirting a little. They kept their marriage spicy while not taking things too far, which resulted in such an enduring relationship.
Dolly Parton and Carl Dean redefined open relationships
Dolly Parton took to Instagram on March 3rd to announce the passing of her husband Carl Dean. She wrote, “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.” Dean’s cause of death wasn’t announced by the family.
Dolly Parton and Dean shared an open relationship, according to Parton’s autobiography Dolly on Dolly, Interviews and Encounters with Dolly Parton. She shared in the book that “men are my weakness” (via Daily Mail). She shared that she had crushes on some unusual men but she only limited these crushes to some fun flirtations. She shared:
Short, fat, bald or skinny — I’ve had crushes on some very unusual men but Carl knows I’ll always come home and I’m not having s*x with these people — I’m just flirting and having fun. He’s not jealous and I’m not jealous of him. He knows I flirt. He flirts too.
She further clarified that their open relationship did not mean they could have s*x outside of their marriage. She shared, “Yes, it’s an open relationship, but not sexually and I would kill him if I thought he was doing that. He would shoot me too.” While she never had sexual relations with another man, she admitted to having an emotional affair in her book.
She shared that she had experienced an “affair of the heart” and was left with a “broken heart” by an unidentified lover. Interestingly, her most famous song Jolene was inspired by one of her husband’s crushes. She told NPR that the real-life Jolene worked at the bank and flirted with him when he visited the bank. It was a running joke between the couple.
Dolly Parton and her late husband shared a spicy, enduring marriage
Dolly Parton and Carl Dean’s 59-year-long marriage was something for any married couple to look forward to. Parton shared about her first meeting with Dean on her website, “I was surprised and delighted that while he talked to me, he looked at my face (a rare thing for me).” She shared that he seemed interested in knowing more about Parton.
In a rare public statement in 2016, Dean shared about Parton, “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” (via ET). He shared that he wouldn’t trade the years he spent with his wife “for nothing on this earth.”
When she appeared on an episode of Bunnie Xo’s podcast Dumb Blonde, she opened up about her marriage to Dean. She shared that the reason their marriage lasted through the years was that “we love each other [and] we respect each other, but we have a lot of fun.” She further shared about how they resolved major arguments between them:
Anytime [there’s] too much tension going on, either one of us can like, find a joke about it to really break the tension, where we don’t let it go so far. We never fought back and forth. And I’m glad now that we never did, because once you start that, that becomes a lifetime thing. I’ve seen it with so many people, and I thought, ‘I ain’t ever starting that.’ I couldn’t bear to think that he’d say something I couldn’t take… because I’m a very sensitive person toward other people and myself.
She told PEOPLE in 2015 that she and her husband were “completely opposite” which made their relationship fun. She shared that she never knew what he would say or do and always kept surprising her.
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