One of country music’s best-kept secrets is the ever-enduring romance between longtime husband and wife Dolly Parton and Carl Dean. Everyone knows Dolly, but far fewer people would recognize Carl. Despite this, Carl has been a staple in the country legend’s life for over five decades. Carl chose to remain out of the spotlight while his wife found fame, but this all changed in 2016. That year, Carl finally publicly revealed himself to celebrate the occasion of his and his wife’s 50th anniversary. Join Facts Verse as Dolly Parton’s husband shows a glimpse of their private marriage.
Dolly Parton Kept Her Husband Secret for Years
In the summer of 2016, country-music history was made when Dolly Parton fans were finally afforded the opportunity to get a glimpse of the musician’s longtime husband. Dolly met her husband Carl in 1964, and they tied the knot in 1966. After all these years, the two of them are still together. Not only that, but they seem to be just as in love as they’ve ever been! Some may wonder why Dolly has kept her husband such a secret from the world if their marriage is such a happy one. As it turns out, the secrecy may be a big part of why their marriage has endured as long as it has.
Dolly and Carl waited two years to marry after first meeting, but Dolly’s record label wanted her to wait even longer. As legend has it, Dolly was asked by her record label to postpone the marriage so that she could focus on her career. Dolly met her longtime husband upon first arriving in Nashville. Of course, she came to the city with dreams of striking it big. She eventually did so, and Carl was by her side the whole time. Dolly took her dreams of stardom seriously, but not seriously enough to heed her record label’s request not to may her newfound love. Dolly went through with her marriage to Carl, but she managed to keep it a secret from the record label. She did so by getting eloped.
The fact that Dolly and Carl eloped loomed over their marriage, as the two wanted to have an exquisite ceremony to match their profound love for one another. Still, their marriage proved a massive success with or without the proper ceremony. To mark the pair’s 50th anniversary of marriage, Dolly and Carl finally had the ceremony of their dreams. By this point, the couple had a great deal more money than they did in 1966, which means that the ceremony was even more lavish than they could’ve imagined. It was the occasion of this lavish ceremony that allowed fans a glimpse of Dolly’s longtime husband.
Dolly and Carl Renewed Their Vows After 50 Years
Dolly managed to convince Carl to agree to have professional pictures of the ceremony taken and released publicly. The way that she managed to convince her husband to finally reveal himself to the public was by agreeing to give all proceeds generated from the images to charity. Besides agreeing to be photographed for the public’s viewing pleasure, Carl also agreed to deliver some succinct written words to the public. Via this rare public statement, Carl professed that it was love at first sight when it came to him and Dolly. The man said to himself as soon as he saw the future country legend that he was going to marry her, and he quickly went about doing so!
Prior to Carl Dean finally being unveiled to the public in 2016, many speculated that Dolly Parton was lying about the man that she had supposedly been married to for several decades. Many thought that the country-music legend made her longtime husband up in an effort to keep tabloids from prying into the true nature of her romantic life. One can imagine that Dolly was grateful for the opportunity to finally get to prove to the public that Carl Dean was very much real.
When it came to making the decision to keep Carl Dean out of the spotlight, it appears to have been a mutual decision between him and Dolly. Carl Dean is simply a much more private person than his more extroverted spouse, and the two respect each other’s differences. It’s the boundaries that the couple has set in their marriage that they credit for how long the union has lasted. According to Dolly herself, it was her mother who inspired her to set strict boundaries when it came to her relationship with Carl. Dolly’s mother told her to always keep a little part of her life for herself. Carl doesn’t get jealous of his wife’s fame, and Dolly doesn’t get upset about the fact that her husband prefers his peaceful time.
Keeping Carl a Secret Was Easy for Dolly Parton
At first, it was understandably difficult for the growingly popular Dolly Parton to maintain a veil of secrecy around her husband. However, the singer claims that eventually became second nature for her to keep Carl out of the spotlight. Dolly claims that her faith is another personal aspect that has helped her accept that her husband likes to stay out of the spotlight. Dolly and Carl’s love for each other may not be visible to the singer’s fan, but it’s visible to the Creator!
It took a lot of convincing for Dolly to finally get Carl to publicly reveal himself, but things are different now that the veil has been pierced. Ever since Carl finally revealed himself to the public in 2016, he has made sporadic appearances in posts on his wife’s social media. Dolly is pretty active on social media, and she loves showing picture of her daily life. These pictures sometimes include glimpses of Carl, though it’s not something that happens everyday. One notable instance occurred on Valentine’s Day, which is holiday during which Dolly is particularly keen to share her love. Dolly has said plenty of great things about her longtime husband in the media. In the aforementioned year of her and her husband’s 50th anniversary, she made multiple appearances in the media speaking on the subject of her marriage. During one memorable appearance, Dolly expressed that her and Carl were the perfect match.
Dolly Parton is a pretty exuberant individual, and it’s Carl Dean’s more subdued nature that helps make the couple’s marriage work. Dolly believes that Carl helps balance her out, and she claims that she can’t imagine living her life with anyone else. Though the two have been married for over five decades, they’ve certainly spent plenty of time on their own. The two have never had any children, and Dolly has always been something of a workaholic. Much of Dolly’s lifetime has been spent touring. Whenever Dolly is touring, Carl Dean is stuck at home without anyone to keep him company. Still, it seems that the man greatly appreciates his alone time.
Has Dolly Truly Been Faithful to Carl Over the Years?
Besides having to compete with Dolly’s touring schedule, Carl Dean has also had to compete with some notable male figures in the country-music scene when it comes to receiving his wife’s attention. Dolly has brushed shoulders with some notorious womanizers during her career, including Willie Nelson. Despite rumors, Dolly claims that she has remained completely faithful to her husband. Dolly has publicly expressed that she’s developed crushes on some of the figures that she’s brushed shoulders with in the realm of popular entertainment. Such figures include Sylvester Stallone and Burt Reynolds, both of whom Dolly starred alongside in musical films. Dolly may have loved to joke about being aroused by these male stars during her time working with them, but no affairs have been verified.
It’s plenty of fun to spread rumors about Dolly Parton having affairs with such notable entertainers as Sylvester Stallone and Burt Reynolds. However, if Dolly Parton has had an affair with anyone during her marriage to Carl Dean, it was most likely Porter Wagoner. Porter Wagoner is the man who helped Dolly catch her big break when he offered her the chance to be a regular performer on his popular show.
Porter Wagoner was a country singer with a popular television series on which he showcased his talents, and Dolly Parton was there whenever he needed to perform a duet. Dolly’s appearance on Porter’s show turned her into a star, and she eventually grew more popular than the series itself. This angered Porter, who sued Dolly once she became a pop idol. They eventually made up before his death.
Dolly claims that her and Porter Wagoner had a very close relationship, and her choice of words when it comes to the way that the pair felt about each other has always been incredibly careful. Still, Dolly has always refused to directly state that she was ever unfaithful to Carl Dean during the time that she worked with Porter. More recently, Dolly Parton has taken a liking to talk-show personality Jimmy Fallon. Dolly loves to joke about being in love with Jimmy when she appears on his late-night program, but this is likely all just an act for the veteran performer. Dolly has a similar repertoire with David Letterman during his time on late-night television.
Dolly and Carl Appreciate Their Time Alone and Apart
Dolly Parton and Carl Dean might have spent a great deal of their 50-plus years of marriage minding their own business, but the two have also spent plenty of romantic time together. Whenever Dolly isn’t working, she returns home to her husband and they spend leisurely time together. Sometimes they go on trips across the country in their RV, sometimes they just head down the street to grab a beer and a steak.
Dolly Parton and her longtime husband Carl Dean like to keep their marriage out of the public spotlight, and that’s probably why it’s endured for over five decades! Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that Dolly Parton has been married to the same man since 1966, and that her husband didn’t publicly show his face to the country legend’s legion of fans until 2016? Comment down below!
