Photo: Getty Images
Dolly Parton shared a rare glimpse into her 60-year relationship with husband Carl Dean when she caught up with Bunnie Xo on the latest episode of Dumb Blonde.
Parton appeared as a guest on Bunnie Xo’s podcast, which was titled with inspiration from the legendary country star. Parton, 78, shared with Bunnie Xo that she left two boyfriends who “wanted to marry me” when she moved from East Tennessee to Music City in pursuit of her career as a country singer-songwriter. Though she thought a boyfriend was “the last thing” she wanted when she got to Nashville, Parton met the man who would become her husband on the first day. Now, they’ve been together for six decades, and married for 58 years. Parton shared how their marriage has thrived for so many years, and how their personalities can seem very opposite.
“I left two boyfriends back home that had wanted to marry me, and I kept saying ‘no, I’m gonna move to Nashville,’” Parton said on the podcast. “I thought, ‘well, the last thing I want is a boyfriend.’ I’m leaving two boyfriends here, and I kept saying ‘no, I’m going to Nashville.’ So, I got here, and I thought ‘that’s the last thing I’m gonna get caught up with some boy,’ you know, until I get my feet on the ground (and) get things going. And the very day I got to Nashville, I met Carl Dean. And 60 years later, I’m still with Carl Dean. We’ve been together 60 years. We’ve been married 58.
“He’s a good guy. He’s quiet and I’m loud. We’re funny — oh, he’s hilarious — and I think one of the things that’s made it last so long through the years, we love each other. we respect each other. But we have a lot of fun,” Parton said. “Any time things get too, too much tension going on, either one of us can find a joke about it to where it’ll break the tension. …We never fought back and forth. And I’m glad now that we never did because once you start that, that becomes a lifetime thing.
Parton also said she and Dean differ in some ways, though they’ve always respected and supported one another. She noted their astrological compatibility as Cancer and Capricorn signs in her conversation with Bunnie Xo, who also shared some insight into her relationship with award-winning artist Jelly Roll.
“(Dean) loved to go places if we were gonna drive across the country or if we had planned anything, but boy, he never could wait to get home. He wanted to be around home, and I’m a gypsy by nature. I just love to go and love to see what else is out there,” Parton said. “He loves music, but he’s not the least bit interested in being in it. he told me that right up front. I begged him to go with me in ’67, we got married in ’66, so that’s when I got my first award for BMI Song of the Year. And I rented him a tux and begged him to go, and we did. He was so uncomfortable. …He said, ‘look, now I want you to do everything you want to do, and I wish you the best. But don’t ever ask me to go to another one of these damn things because I ain’t going.’ And he never did! So, we just kind of have that respect, and I respected that.”
Throughout the conversation, Parton also spoke about her childhood, growing up in the Smoky Mountains with her family, her first-ever performance at the Grand Ole Opry and more. Bunnie Xo said it was “an honor to have been able to sit in her energy,” after she hosted Parton on the podcast. She said Parton has always been “my inspiration,” and a longtime dream guest on Dumb Blonde. Find the full episode on iHeartRadio here.