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Dolly Parton reveals how she’s made marriage work for 56 years with ‘loner’ husband Carl Thomas Dean

The country music singer explained that the two have different interests but the same love.

Dolly Parton’s 56-year marriage to Carl Thomas Dean proves that couples don’t have to be cut from the same cloth to make love last.

In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, the country music icon touched on her relationship with Dean and why it just works.

“I think I’ve talked pretty much about everything through the years with Carl, and we’re different people,” she explained. “But we just work so well together.” 

Parton and Dean met decades ago at a laundromat, famously had their first date a McDonald’s, and married in 1966. In the years since, Parton has carved out a fruitful career for herself in country music and amassed nominations for Academy, Grammy, Tony, and Emmy awards. 

Dolly parton smiles as a dark haired main kisses her cheek.
Dolly Parton in a rare photo with her husband, Carl Thomas Dean. dollyparton.com

Still, Dean has largely steered clear of the general public’s attention.

“He’s kind of a loner, so he doesn’t really like being with anybody but me — when I’m home — I mean, he’s not one to kind of get out there and socialize that much,” Parton added. “He loves living on the farm, taking care of the property as he has for all these many years, and then, we just have a lot to talk about.” 

According to Parton, it’s his preference for a simpler life, matched with his appreciation for music that assures that the couple click even all of these years later.

“He loves music, but he’s not in the music business at all, so we have different things to talk about, his world and my world, and we work really well together,” Parton added. “We have a lot of love and respect for each other, and I think the key to all of it — we both have a crazy, warped sense of humor, so we have a lot of fun.”

Parton has previously opened up about how her and Dean's sense of humor has kept them close over the decades. Late last year, she told ET Canada that "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 also told the outlet that spending time apart also helped.

“I like it when people say, ‘How did it last so long?’ I say, ‘I stay going,’” Parton said. “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.”