{"id":832731,"date":"2026-09-01T06:30:06","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T06:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/832731\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T06:30:06","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T06:30:06","slug":"dolly-parton-had-a-two-word-answer-to-the-secret-of-her-lasting-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/832731\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolly Parton had a two-word answer to the secret of her lasting marriage"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Lessons<\/p>\n

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and moreStay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more <\/p>\n

\"Lessons<\/p>\n

Before her death, Dolly Parton<\/a> shared the key to her long-lasting marriage to Carl Dean<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Parton died August 25 at age 80<\/a>. She was preceded in death by her husband, Dean, who died in March 2025 at age 82<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The couple eloped in 1966 and remained together until Dean\u2019s death<\/a>. Years before she died, Parton had joked about how she maintained her 60-year marriage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Speaking to People<\/a> in 2018, she said, \u201cI always joke and laugh when people ask me what\u2019s the key to my long marriage and lasting love.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always say \u2018Stay gone!\u2019 and there\u2019s a lot of truth to that. I travel a lot, but we really enjoy each other when we\u2019re together and the little things we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DollyDolly Parton and Carl Dean eloped in 1966 (Instagram\/Dolly Parton)<\/p>\n

Parton shared all sorts of quips and jokes about her marriage over the years. In a 2022 interview with E! News, she said: \u201cI like to dress up for Carl.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the time of Dean\u2019s death<\/a>, Parton said: \u201cCarl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words can\u2019t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their love story is one for the books, though they kept much of it out of the spotlight \u2013 save for the several songs Parton wrote with Dean in mind, including her multimillion-selling 1973 hit \u201cJolene.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

The pair met outside the Wishy Washy laundromat the day Parton moved to Nashville at 18. Dean was 21 at the time. \u201cI was surprised and delighted that while he talked to me, he looked at my face (a rare thing for me),\u201d she said of their first meeting. \u201cHe seemed to be genuinely interested in finding out who I was and what I was about.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Parton hit it big, Dean continued to support his wife from the sidelines <\/a>as he continued working at his asphalt-paving business in Nashville. <\/p>\n

\u201cCarl has never been in the limelight and never wanted to be in it<\/a>,\u201d Parton said in 2023<\/a>. \u201cHe don\u2019t like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PartonParton shared the key to her long-lasting marriage before her death (Getty)<\/p>\n

So averse to the spotlight was Dean that his near-total absence from red carpets and celebrity life led some fans to believe he didn\u2019t exist. \u201cThey think I just made him up,\u201d Parton joked in a television interview in 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dean did, however, have thoughts on Parton\u2019s hit tune \u201cJolene.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a little embarrassed when I wrote the song \u2018Jolene\u2019 because, actually, it wasn\u2019t as serious [as it seems],\u201d Parton reflected during an appearance on the BBC\u2019s The One Show <\/a>50 years after the song was released. \u201cI was just jealous \u2018cause she was a beautiful woman and he was just flirting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Parton wrote of her union in 2011: \u201cWe\u2019re really very proud of our marriage. It\u2019s the first for both of us. And the last.\u201d<\/p>\n

She will be laid to rest next to Dean in the mausoleum at Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Nashville, Tennessee. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and moreStay ahead…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":832732,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[88],"class_list":["post-832731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=832731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/832732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=832731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=832731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=832731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}