Dolly Parton's Relationship With Her Husband Carl Dean Was A Great Love Story

The country music superstar described her husband as the “love of my life” and the “star of my life story”.

Following the news of Dolly Parton’s death at the age of 80, her fans all over the world have been reflecting on her life and legacy.

A major part of that was her almost-60-year marriage to Carl Dean, who ran a successful asphalt paving company in the couple’s home state of Tennessee.

During her hugely successful 60-year recording career, the Grammy winner wrote many songs inspired by her relationship with the man she described as the “love of my life” and the “star of my life story”.

This is the story of Dolly and Carl’s long-lasting union…

Dolly Parton met Carl Dean, the man who would become her husband, when she was just 18 years old

The story goes that Dolly moved to Nashville, Tennessee the day after she graduated high school – and met Carl outside a laundromat almost immediately.

“I met him the first day I got to Nashville, in 1964,” she once told Interview magazine. “I graduated on a Friday night, went to Nashville on a Saturday morning with dirty clothes and I went to a Laundromat looking for anything but love. I had just left two boyfriends back home and I wasn’t looking to get involved because I had gone to Nashville to really get started in the business.”

She explained: “We dated for two years before we got married. I often get myself in love trouble because I’m so passionate; I love so much and so deep. But Carl’s a special guy, I didn’t have any problems with him.”

In 2025, following Carl’s death, Dolly told her fans: “Carl and I fell in love when I was 18 and he was 23, and like all great love stories, they never end.”

Interestingly, the pair were rarely – if ever –........

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