Dolly Parton And Carl Dean's Love Story, Secret Wedding, Surviving An Affair And 58 Yrs Of Marriage

Hailed as the ‘Queen of Country’, Dolly Parton is a popular American singer, songwriter, and actress. In a career spanning 60 years and 50 studio albums, Dolly is the most loved country singer of all time. She has sold more than 100 million records worldwide and has been honoured with eleven Grammy Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, and a Tony Award.

Just like her long and successful professional life, Dolly also had an interesting personal life. She never hid any detail about her relationship with her husband, Carl Dean, with whom she spent nearly 60 years. Amid her army of fans, Carl was Dolly’s biggest cheerleader, who hated being in the public eye himself, but never let Dolly’s light dim. Let us delve into more details about their love story, secret marriage and surviving an affair.

Dolly Parton met Carl Dean at a local laundrette

Dolly was just 18 when she was doing her laundry at the Wishy Washy laundromat, and Carl Dean, who was 21 at the time, showed up there. He told Dolly that she would get a sunburn in her revealing outfit. It was love at first sight for both of them. Dolly thought Carl to be a genuine man, while he was certain that he would marry her.

Dolly Parton and Carl Dean had a secret wedding

Soon after their first meeting, Carl and Dolly began dating and wished to get married. However, she was signed by the Monument Records and a lot of money was invested on her. Everyone at the label asked her to wait a year before getting married. However, since Dolly and Carl were deeply in love, they got married in a secret ceremony in Ringgold, Georgia, in 1966. The wedding was attended by Dolly’s mother, a preacher and his wife.

Dolly Parton’s stardom and Carl Dean’s support from behind the scenes

In the same year of her marriage, Dolly got her big break with her first full-length album, Hello, I'm Dolly. For seven consecutive years, people turned up to watch Dolly perform at the Porter Wagoner Show. Though she had many fans, however, Carl was her biggest fan. He never liked being in the limelight. He rarely accompanied Dolly to public events but always supported her from behind the scenes without ever being jealous of her fame.

Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’ was inspired by a flirtation developed between Carl Dean and a bank teller

Dolly Parton’s track Jolene in 1973 was one of her best works. The song, in which one woman begs another not to take her man, was based on a real-life event from Dolly’s life. The song was primarily inspired by a red-haired bank teller who flirted with Carl Dean, her husband, during the early stages of their marriage. In 2008, Dolly told NPR about the same and said:

“She got this terrible crush on my husband. And he just loved going to the bank because she paid him so much attention. It was kinda like a running joke between us — when I was saying, 'Hell, you're spending a lot of time at the bank. I don't believe we've got that kind of money.' So it's really an innocent song all around, but sounds like a dreadful one."

Dolly Parton’s affair outside her ‘open marriage’ to Carl Dean

Dolly Parton and Carl Dean had an open marriage, but despite that, she fell in love with someone whose name she has never disclosed. The affair with an unidentified “lover” even led her to contemplate suicide. An excerpt from her memoir, Dolly on Dolly: Interviews and Encounters With Dolly Parton details an account of the same as she wrote:

“I don’t think I’d have done it — killed myself — but I can’t say for sure. Now that I’ve gone through that terrible moment, I can certainly understand the possibilities — even for someone solid like me — if the pain gets bad enough.”

Dolly Parton and Carl Dean remained childless

The country music icon, Dolly Parton and her husband, Carl Dean, didn’t have children of their own. Speaking to Billboard, Dolly revealed that she and her husband assumed they would have kids and even decided names for them, but it didn’t turn out that way. She further revealed it as God’s plan and said:

“God has a plan for everything. I think it probably was his plan for me not to have kids so everybody's kids could be mine.”

Dolly Parton reveals her life without Carl Dean is a ‘big adjustment’

After 58 years of marital bliss, Dolly Parton lost her lover and biggest cheerleader, Carl Dean. He breathed his last on March 3, 2025, at the age of 82. Since then, Dolly has been on an emotional ride as she misses him dearly. Speaking about the same during an appearance on Today, Dolly said:

“Life without him has been a ‘big adjustment’. I’ll always miss him, of course, and always love him. He was a great partner to me.”

Despite the many highs and lows of their lives, Dolly Parton knew that Carl Dean was her emotional anchor, whom she could blindly rely on.

Also Read: Who Is Dan Orlovsky's Wife, Tiffany? Pillar Of Strength To Dan, Has Alleged Net Worth Of USD 5M

AWESOME NEWS! Now you can download BollywoodShaadis app and never miss a story. Get App

AWESOME NEWS! Now you can download BollywoodShaadis app and never miss a story. Choose your device Android or IOS (Apple)