Dolly Parton and her husband, Carl Dean, were married for nearly 60 years before their respective deaths.

The country icon first met her future spouse when she moved to Nashville in 1964 to start her music career. Parton and Dean tied the knot within two years of meeting each other, but as Parton's star rose, Dean kept to himself. They celebrated their 50th anniversary in May 2016.

“We’re the perfect partners,” Parton exclusively told Us in January 2022. “We both have a great sense of humor. … We’re able to solve any problem and any situation, making a joke about it and not letting it get too heavy, but we respect each other and we like each other. We lucked up, let’s put it that way.”

She added, “You know, most people can keep a marriage [going strong] if you make a little effort. Some people just get slouching and lazy and about stuff that ain’t important, like leaving the toilet seat up. And if that’s the worst thing you’ve to worry about, you’re already in trouble.”

More than a year after Dean’s death on March 3, 2025 at the age of 82, Parton died in August 2026. She was 80.

Keep scrolling for a look back at Parton and Dean's romance:

The day after graduating from high school, Parton moved to Nashville from her hometown of Sevierville to pursue her singing career. That same day, she met Dean outside the Wishy Washy Laundromat. "I guess kind of in the back of my mind I was maybe flirtin' a little," she recalled in a 1970 interview with The Tennesseean. "But mainly I was just bein' friendly because I'd always been the kind of person who would speak back and smile." 

The duo tied the knot in a ceremony attended only by Parton, her mother, Dean, the preacher and his wife. "I like the way he loves me," Parton told Playboy of her husband in 1978. "His understanding of me and the things I do. The way he lets me be free. And lets me be me." 

While interviewing Parton for a profile, a Cosmopolitan reporter finally caught a glimpse of Dean. "Tall and good-looking, rather like a young Gregory Peck, he has a way of moving his angular body so that he seems to come toward you in sections," the article read. "He is a fan of television and nightclub comic Steve Martin." 

The "Eagle When She Flies" songstress opened up about her relationship with Dean in a candid interview with Playgirl, saying that the pair "never" argue. "Sometimes we'll get a little touchy if we're tired or aggravated," she explained. "We never put ourselves in a situation where we bicker back and forth." 

The Steel Magnolias star and Dean renewed their vows to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, Parton's 1966 wedding dress and Dean's suit were displayed in the Chasing Rainbows Museum at Dollywood. 

Parton recorded some of her favorite love songs for her 45th studio album, Pure & Simple. She originally wrote and recorded two of the tracks, "Say Forever You'll Be Mine" and "Tomorrow Is Forever," early in her marriage to Dean. 

Parton explained that she keeps Dean out of the spotlight because he would "never get a minute’s peace" if he accompanied her in public. “He's right about that,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “It’s just not who he is. He’s, like, a quiet, reserved person.”

During an episode of the "Table Manners With Jessie Ware" podcast, Parton joked that she and her husband may finally have tired of one another after nearly 60 years together. “I’m sure he’s sick of me,” she quipped. “My husband and I have been together for 57 years, been married 54, and I’m sick of him.”

After joking that she wanted to pose for Playboy again for her 75th birthday, Parton recreated her Playboy cover for Dean's birthday. “My husband always loved the original cover of Playboy, so I was trying to think of something to do to make him happy," she said in an Instagram video that showed her dressed in bunny ears and a bowtie. "He still thinks I’m a hot chick after 57 years — and I’m not going to try to talk him out of that."

Parton gave fans a rare glimpse of Dean when she posted a throwback photo of the couple for Thanksgiving. "Happy #Thanksgiving from me and mine to you and yours," she wrote via Instagram. 

“You find little ways,” the Run Rose Run author exclusively told Us about how the pair kept the romance alive after more than 50 years together. “Like, last year on his birthday, I dressed up in my Playboy bunny suit, made him breakfast and [ran] around in that for a little while.”

She continued: “You know, most people can keep a marriage [going strong] if you make a little effort. … We’re the perfect partners. We both have [a] great sense of humor. We’re able to, like, solve any problems and any situation, making a joke about it and not letting it get too heavy, but we respect each other and we like each other. We lucked up, let’s put it that way.”

Parton celebrated Valentine's Day with a rare throwback photo of her and Dean sharing a smooch. "Happy Valentine’s Day y’all!" she wrote via Instagram. "Remember to squeeze your loved ones a little tighter today and tell them you love 'em!"

"I like it when people say, 'How did it last so long?' I say, 'I stay going.’ You know, there's a lot to be said about that. So, we're not in each other's face all the time. He's not in the business, so we have different interests, but yet we have the things we love to do together. So, it was meant to be, I think. He was the one I was supposed to have and vice versa,” Parton told ET Canada, adding that their "warped sense of humor" keeps the pair laughing. “And I think humor, honestly, is one of the best things when you're married like that. Even if you have a problem, if you have a great sense of humor, if you say something you can't take back, [you] usually have some crazy way of getting out of it.”

She concluded: "We’ve never had, you know, serious arguments to say bad things to each other we have to take back."

Parton exclusively told Us Weekly that she and Dean "have a lot to talk about" because they don't do the same things. "I wanna know what's been going on in his world," she explained. "He enjoys hearing about what's going on in mine as long as he doesn't have to be part of it and be put on the spot with doing any of of that. But we get along great. We've had a good life. We're really compatible as people."

The country star revealed which one of her famous hairdos her husband doesn’t love. "When I wear my hair too stationary,” she said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. “I said, 'You don't like my hair?' And he said, 'Well, it looks too important.' There's a certain look that looks important."

While appearing on Bunnie Xo’s “Dumb Blonde” podcast, Parton explained why Dean doesn’t join her at public events.

“Well, he was a homebody, and that worked well for us,” Parton said. “He was in asphalt paving, but his sign is Cancer and I’m Capricorn, and those are compatible signs. The Capricorn is the mountain goat because it's always climbing and the Cancer is more of a homebody. He really was.”

Parton continued, “He wanted to be around home. I loved to go and see what else is out there, but I think that’s worked well for us. He loves music, but he’s not the least bit interested in being in it — and he told me that right up front.”

Parton even “begged” Dean to attend her 1967 BMI Song of the Year award ceremony, her first major career win.

“I rented him a tux and begged him to go and, oh, he was so uncomfortable the whole night,” she recalled. “As soon as we hit the door, he started pulling off stuff. He said, ‘Look, now, I want you to do everything you want to do and I wish you the best, but don’t ever ask me to go to another one of these damn things because I ain’t going.’ And he never did!”

Parton’s team announced Dean’s death via Instagram on March 3, revealing he was 82 when he passed. “Carl and I spent many wonderful years together,” the singer wrote in a statement at the time. “Words can’t do justice the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.”

Parton died a little more than a year after Dean’s death. 

“Global icon and humanitarian, Dolly Parton, known to the world as a beloved singer, songwriter, philanthropist, actress, playwright, and author died peacefully today in Nashville, Tennessee,” read a statement from Parton’s spokesperson on August 25, 2026. “A rhinestone life that shone bright enough for the world to see, Dolly will forever stand as an inspiration not only through her timeless music and prolific songwriting, but also her wit, warmth, and kindness that made us all feel like family.”