Dolly Parton Reveals Which Of Her Qualities Has Helped Keep Her 56-Year Marriage Alive
Dolly shared a secret to her nearly six decades of wedded bliss with husband Carl Dean, calling it ‘one of the best things when you’re married.’
Dolly Parton got candid about her amazing marriage that has lasted almost six decades! The iconic country music crooner, who will be hosting NYE with Miley Cyrus, said her ability to keep things light has kept the magic alive with husband Carl Dean since they wed in 1966. “We both have a warped sense of humor,” she told ETCanada on Monday, Dec. 19. “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 explained.
The couple’s long-lasting love affair started way back when Dolly first moved to Nashville in 1965 to kick off her music career. On the very first day in the new city, the “Jolene” singer bumped into Carl at a laundromat and the rest was history.
Of course, that doesn’t mean they haven’t had to work hard at the relationship, as Dolly gave another nugget of wisdom, saying her career has offered her much-needed space for the couple. “I like it when people say, ‘How did it last so long?’ I say, ‘I stay going,’” shared Dolly. “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 and vice versa.”
While Carl may not be in the music business, he still appreciates it, so much so that Dolly is planning a surprise for him on her upcoming rock album. “He loves all of the songs. And I haven’t told him yet who I’m going to have on. I don’t even know myself, who all is going to be on it. But he’ll love it. I’m doing so many of his favorite songs on the album, so I’ll play it to him when it’s all done,” she explained.
Speaking of rock, the Grammy winner was involved in a bit of a controversy surrounding her induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999, but her nod for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year was initially met with some resistance by Dolly, causing some backfire. She initially said that she was “respectfully” bowing out of the nomination on Instagram due to the fact that she didn’t feel as if she earned it. At the time, she told Billboard that she didn’t see herself as a “rock n’ roller in any sense of the word.”
However, she had a change of heart soon after the nominations were announced. “I never meant to cause trouble or stir up any controversy. It was just always my belief — and I think millions of other people out there too — always thought the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was just set up for the greatest people in the rock ‘n’ roll business, and I just didn’t feel like I really measured up to that and I don’t want to take anything away from the people that have worked so hard,” Dolly said to Billboard. “So I just wanted to go pull out before it got started good. I found out later that it’s far more than that, obviously. … I’m very honored and humbled by [the induction], and so I’ll try to live up to it.