Inside Dolly Parton's Ultra-Private Romance With Husband Carl Dean

Dolly Parton near 2 boyfriends down successful her hometown of Sevierville, Tenn., truthful getting into a caller narration was the past happening connected her caput erstwhile she moved to Nashville successful 1964, close aft graduating from precocious school.

Alas, she met Carl Dean portion walking down the thoroughfare connected her mode to the laundromat the time she arrived successful Music City.

As remembered by Parton (Dean has never spoken to the press), he was driving by successful a achromatic Chevrolet erstwhile helium called out, "You're gonna get sunburnt retired here, small lady!"

They got to talking "and I fell for him, and helium fell for me," she wrote successful her 2020 book Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life successful Lyrics. In different interview, the 5-foot artist, who was 18 erstwhile they met, recalled however tan Dean was arsenic helium towered implicit her astatine 6-foot-2. (The 22-year-old had an asphalt paving concern with his father, truthful was bronzed from moving outside.)

She did not, however, hop close into his car. "You gotta cognize idiosyncratic oregon they whitethorn instrumentality you connected a backmost roadworthy and termination you," she pointed out, per Stephen Miller's 2011 biography, Smart Blonde. Parton did invite Dean to sojourn her astatine her aunt and uncle's location the adjacent day, which helium did, though she would lone beryllium with him outside. He came backmost each time for a week and erstwhile helium took her retired for their archetypal date, helium drove her to his parents' location archetypal because, Parton said, "he said helium knew close from the infinitesimal helium saw maine that that's the 1 helium wanted."

But arsenic she started to marque a sanction for herself arsenic a songwriter, collaborating often with her uncle Bill Owens, her brag astatine Combine Music, Fred Foster, warned it would beryllium a atrocious thought for her to get married, arsenic she was connected the verge of getting her large interruption arsenic a singer.

Instead, she and Dean—who'd been readying a large wedding—didn't enactment disconnected getting joined different day, eloping to Ringgold, Ga., and tying the knot May 30, 1966, with lone mother-of-the-bride Avie Lee Parton by their broadside (and serving arsenic their wedding photographer).

They kept it truthful quiet, Foster didn't adjacent cognize they were hubby and woman for a year, until 1 time the statement exec—pointing to Parton's increasing success—cracked, "Now aren't you gladsome you didn't get married?" 

The "Jolene" vocalist has explained that, portion her passport says Dolly Parton Dean, she didn't alteration her sanction professionally due to the fact that she already had a grounds woody with her maiden name.

"Anyway, if I had chosen the sanction Dolly Dean," she cracked to The Guardian in 2014, "I'd person been Double D. Again!"

Parton did bring her spouse to 1 large event, the BMI Awards banquet successful 1966, wherever she and Owens were being honored successful the state class for penning "Put It Off Until Tomorrow."

Afterward, Dean started pulling disconnected his tuxedo earlier they'd adjacent reached the car. "He said, 'I'm blessed for you,'" Parton wrote successful her book. "'I privation you to bash what you privation to do. But don't ever inquire maine to spell to different 1 of them damn things, due to the fact that I ain't going.' And helium ne'er has."

That was the archetypal of 48 BMI Awards she has received, to spell with the 10 Grammys (not including a Lifetime Achievement Award successful 2011), 9 Country Music Association Awards, 13 Academy of Country Music Awards and a big of different accolades.

But the existent prize has been waiting for Parton astatine home.  

"I ever gag and laughter erstwhile radical inquire maine what's the cardinal to my agelong matrimony and lasting love," the 9 to 5 star told People in 2018. "I ever accidental 'Stay gone!' and there's a batch of information to that. I question a lot, but we truly bask each different erstwhile we're unneurotic and the small things we do."

One of their earliest meal dates was astatine the McDonald's drive-thru model successful Dean's Chevy, Parton recalled, and their tastes as a mates ne'er got a full batch fancier (though Forbes enactment Parton's estimated nett worthy astatine $440 cardinal successful 2023). They inactive similar to patronize section restaurants and spell connected roadworthy trips, Ringgold—where they said "I do"—being 1 of their regular destinations.

"I emotion to read. I emotion to cook. I emotion hanging retired with my husband, riding astir successful our small RV," Parton told Billboard in 2014. "Even erstwhile I get disconnected the roadworthy aft traveling thousands of miles, I'll say, 'Get the camper; let's spell somewhere.' He'll say, 'Are you kidding? Ain't you bushed of riding?' 'No, I'm a gypsy. I privation to bash that.' My beingness is reasonably elemental erstwhile I'm retired of the limelight."

Though if you privation to drawback her and Dean astatine Publix oregon Walmart, beryllium prepared to enactment up late. "We'd spell successful the mediate of the nighttime to those places that are unfastened 24 hours a day," Parton told reporters in 2019 portion celebrating the premiere of her Netflix series Dolly Parton's Heartstrings. "You'd beryllium amazed astatine however fortunate I'd get with that. You spot a fewer people, and I don't mind—I emotion people—I conscionable don't privation to dilatory up my shopping."

While the deficiency of photos of the brace retired successful nationalist whitethorn person frustrated Parton watchers implicit the years—"That has led a batch of people to judge that my hubby doesn't beryllium and that I made him up," she wrote successful her 2020 book—the vocalist has shared a fewer throwback snapshots with the world.

And she cheekily included her antheral connected the screen of her 1969 album My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy, a composite representation showing Parton daydreaming distant astir her rugged chap successful the lumberjack shirt.

But Parton respects Dean's aversion to the spotlight, truthful she's kept him retired of it arsenic overmuch arsenic possible.

"He's similar a quiet, reserved person," she told ET in 2020, "and helium figured if helium ever got retired determination successful that, he'd ne'er get a minute's peace—and he's close astir that."

When they renewed their vows astatine location connected their 50th anniversary, Parton finally got to deterioration the dazzling wedding formal of her dreams. She besides penned a opus to spell with their vows, "Forever Love," 1 of several tracks inspired by her and Dean's forever-love matter connected her 2016 album Pure and Simple.

"I got each dressed up successful the astir beauteous gown you've ever seen and dressed that hubby of excavation up," she told Rolling Stone of their 2nd large day. "He looked similar a handsome dude retired of Hollywood. We had a fewer household and friends around. We didn't program thing large astatine each due to the fact that we didn't privation immoderate benignant of strain, immoderate benignant of tension, immoderate benignant of commotion, truthful we planned it cleverly and carefully. We conscionable had a elemental small ceremonial astatine our chapel astatine our place...We conscionable had amusive with it."

Along with the accustomed questions astir her secrets to marital success, Parton has besides fielded her stock of inquiries astir her and Dean's enduring presumption arsenic a household of two.

"I utilized to deliberation I should regret it," Parton told Billboard about not having children. "Early on, erstwhile my hubby and I were dating, and past erstwhile we got married, we conscionable assumed we would person kids. We weren't doing thing to halt it. In fact, we thought possibly we would. We adjacent had names if we did, but it didn't crook retired that way. Now I say, 'God didn't mean for maine to person kids truthful everybody's kids could beryllium mine.'"

She shared with The Guardian that if they'd ever had a small girl, they would've named her Carla, and she and Dean thought a batch astir what their kids mightiness person been like.

"I would person been a large mother, I think," Parton said. "I would astir apt person fixed up everything else. Because I would've felt blameworthy astir that, if I'd person near them [to work]. Everything would person changed. I astir apt wouldn't person been a star."

But arsenic the 4th of 12 siblings, she has had plentifulness of radical successful her beingness to dote on.

"I'm precise adjacent to my family—five of my younger brothers and sisters lived with maine and Carl for galore years— and we're precise adjacent to our nieces and nephews," she told Billboard. "Now that Carl and I are older, we often say, 'Aren't you gladsome we didn't person kids? Now we don't person kids to interest about.'"

Which besides leaves much clip to absorption connected each other.

"We inactive person our small times, similar successful the springtime erstwhile the archetypal yellowish daffodils travel out," Parton told People in 2020. "Even if there's inactive immoderate snowfall astir it, my hubby ever brings maine a bouquet. And he'll usually constitute maine a small poem. Which to me, that's priceless. That's similar a day successful itself."

Whether they're having a candlelit meal astatine location oregon hitting the roadworthy and overnighting successful a Days Inn ("as agelong arsenic the bed's cleanable and there's a bathroom"), they're happiest conscionable doing their thing.

And though Dean hasn't been to the Grammys oregon the Oscars, since Parton is rarely without makeup (even sleep is nary lucifer for her mascara) and has never needed a reason different than being awake to get each dolled up, he still sees his woman successful her glamorous element.

"He knows I'm ever going to benignant of beryllium fixed up for him due to the fact that I don't judge successful going location and being a slouch," she said. But for the astir part, "He doesn't attraction what I deterioration arsenic agelong arsenic I'm happy. He loves maine the mode I am."