Dolly Parton kept many details of her life private, especially her nearly six-decade marriage with late husband Carl Dean and the heartbreak she bore when he died.
In a CBS Mornings interview aired Sept. 10, her sister Stella Parton described their marriage as a "sweet, private romance."
The country music legend
died on Aug. 25 at 80 following a brief battle with cancer, and Dean died in March 2025 at 82. His cause of death has never been publicly released."I know their relationship was very unique and very deep and loyal. And I think it broke her heart to see him in the shape he, you know, got to before he passed away," Stella told Gayle King.
King asked if her sister died of a "broken heart," to which Stella denied.
"But I don’t think that’s what
made her sick. I think my sister worked so hard for so long and just kept going. You know, even in my last conversation with her, she was working. That was her passion," Stella said.
She added that Dean loved the "9 to 5" singer "enough to let her be what she was," even though he largely avoided the spotlight himself.
"He would rather have her be at the house with her hair up in a ponytail and barefoot, cookin’ in the kitchen and just, you know, messin’ around the house," she continued. "That’s, I think, that’s what he would have preferred."
Who was Dolly Parton's husband?
Parton married the businessman and remained with him until he died on March 3, 2025.
Since marrying in 1966, the two shared a private love story dating back to when they first crossed paths at the Wishy Washy Laundromat in Nashville in 1964, when 21-year-old Dean, an asphalt paver, waved down 18-year-old Parton, who had just moved to the city.
Despite his wife's undeniable fame and success, Dean kept out of the public eye after a 1966 awards show, Parton explained in her 1994 autobiography, "Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business." Instead, he focused on his real estate dealings and tended to the couple's Nashville ranch.
"He never wanted to be part of any of that, never did interviews," Parton told Knox News, part of the USA TODAY Network, in 2024. "[He] would just run like a scalded dog. If somebody said, 'Are you Carl Dean? Can you answer a few questions?' 'No, I don't answer questions.'"
What did Dolly Parton say after her husband's death?
Following Dean's death in 2025, Parton said in a statement that "Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words can't do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years."
She thanked everyone for all the messages, cards, and flowers people sent her, adding, "I can't reach out personally to each of you but just know it has meant the world to me."
"He is in God's arms now and I am okay with that. I will always love you," she wrote.
In 2016, the couple renewed their vows, during which Dean recalled his first impression of the musician.
"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. I wouldn't trade the last 50 years for nothing on this earth," he said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dolly Parton's sister shares private heartbreak in icon's marriage to Carl Dean
