Dolly Parton Said Secret to Her 58-Year Marriage to Carl Dean Was Riverbank Picnics and Breaking Out the ‘Real China’ (Exclusive)
Dolly Parton Said Secret to Her 58-Year Marriage to Carl Dean Was Riverbank Picnics and Breaking Out the ‘Real China’ (Exclusive)
Hannah SacksWed, August 26, 2026 at 1:00 AM UTC
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Dolly Parton & Husband Carl Thomas Dean mid 80sCredit: Courtesy Dolly Parton -
Dolly Parton shared the secret to her 58-year long marriage to husband Carl Dean in an interview with PEOPLE back in 2020
Parton and Dean met in 1964 on the country music icon’s first day in Nashville
The couple married in 1966 after two years of dating and renewed their vows in 2016 on their 50th wedding anniversary
Dolly Parton once revealed the secret to her 58-year marriage to husband Carl Dean.
The country music icon, who died on Tuesday, Aug. 25 at age 80, was known for her long and loving relationship with Dean, whom she met on her first day in Nashville back in 1964. Parton and Dean, who tied the knot in 1966 after two years of dating, told PEOPLE in 2020 that the secret to their successful marriage was fairly simple.
“My husband and I, we’ve been together 56 years,” Parton said in 2020 of Dean, whom she met at 18. “We’ve just been married 54 years this past May. But we still have our little times, like in the springtime when the first yellow daffodils came out.”
“Even if there’s still some snow around it, my husband always brings me a bouquet. And he’ll usually write me a little poem. Which to me, that’s priceless,” she continued. “That’s like a date in itself.”
Dolly Parton, Carl DeanCredit: courtesy dolly parton
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Although one of the couple’s first dates was to McDonald’s, Parton says that she did most of the cooking in their decades-long relationship.
“I’ll cook the stuff that I know we love. And I pack it up in a picnic basket. And then we’ll go find some riverbank somewhere with our little camper, park, have a picnic,” Parton told PEOPLE. “Or I’ll do a candlelight dinner. We don’t make an issue of it.”
“It’s like certain days, you feel a certain way. And I’ll say, ‘I’m going to surprise him. And we’re going to have real cloth napkins and real crystal. I’m going to put the real china out instead of the paper plates we usually eat on because we don’t want to have to wash dishes,” she shared.
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Dolly Parton and Carl DeanCredit: courtesy Dolly Parton
A few years later in 2024, Parton reiterated to PEOPLE that she and Dean liked to spend their free time together in their RV — preferably, on a riverbank picnic.
“My husband and I like to travel in our little RV,” she shared, joking, “Now, I’d probably have to have an IV in order to get enough energy to go on a camping trip.”
“But yeah, we love to travel around our little camper and just go out and have a picnic by the river,” continued Parton. “I love to go back home to East Tennessee, visit friends and family, and I love to read.”
Parton and Dean were together until Dean’s death in March 2025. The country music star had previously spoken about her health struggles in the wake of her husband’s death. “I am dealing with some health issues that I just didn’t pay attention to when I was watching over Carl,” she told PEOPLE on Aug. 21.
Dolly Parton and Carl DeanCredit: courtesy Dolly Parton
After her husband’s death, Parton shared that she was still processing the enormous loss she felt.
“Ours is a great old love story. Most people don’t stay that close that long,” Parton told PEOPLE in November 2025. “That’s a loss. Nobody can ever know that unless you’ve experienced it yourself. He will always be in my heart and in my memories.”
Parton’s nephew Bryan Seaver announced Parton’s death on Aug. 25 in a video shared to the singer’s Instagram. “My family and I have shared a lifetime of beautiful memories with Dolly, but so have you. She has always been on your television, your record player, your CD and on your phone playlist, becoming an extended part of your family whether you liked it or not,” said Seaver in the clip.
“Our family and the team she has entrusted with her legacy will work diligently to ensure her spirit will live with us forever. Dolly was a farmer, just like her daddy; he farmed the soil, she farmed songs and happiness,” he continued. “Dolly called me and said she wants to rest in a beautiful bed of plush cotton because after a life of wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and have some rest.”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
