Losing a spouse is never easy, and country music icon Dolly Parton unfortunately learned that firsthand in March 2025. Two months later, the singer shared how she’s coping with the loss in an interview with Today. As Parton explained, it hasn’t been easy to adapt to life without her husband, Carl Dean. “It’s a big adjustment, just trying to change patterns and habits.” Parton also shared that it is still a difficult subject for her to discuss, saying that she gets “very emotional” when asked about Dean. Before his death at age 82, the couple had spent an incredible six decades together, and their love story is truly inspirational.

Parton Says She Fell in Love With Dean as a Teenager

GettyCountry singer Dolly Parton poses for a portrait in circa 1972.
As Parton shared in her Interview with Today, she and Dean had an incredibly long relationship. “But we were together 60 years,” she said. “I’ve loved him since I was 18 years old.”

As The New York Times reported, their romance started with dirty laundry. As Parton recalled, she met Dean outside of a Nashville laundromat back in 1964. A man on the street called to her, and the singer waved in response. “Bein’ from the country, I spoke to everybody,” she said. “And he came over and, well, it was Carl, my husband.”

As Parton went on to explain, the two started a courtship after that first meeting, and Dean was already sure that she was the one. After about a week of spending time together, he introduced her to his parents “cause he said he knew right the minute he saw me that that’s the one he wanted,” Parton said. The two later married and spent the rest of Dean’s life together.

Fans Rallied Around The Singer When Dean Passed Away

GettyDolly Parton attends Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs In Symphony World Premiere at Schermerhorn Symphony Center on March 20, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Parton’s husband lived his life outside of the public eye, but that didn’t stop fans from showing their support for her when he died. As the singer told Today: “I’m so thankful. I’ve gotten so many cards, letters, flowers, from all over the world.” In a video ABC shared on Facebook, Parton thanked her fans for their support. “I will always love you,” she said to an audience at an event she attended just eleven days after Dean’s death.

In reflecting on how she’ll continue to heal after losing her husband, Parton said that focusing on her work is helpful, though it certainly can’t completely erase the sadness. I’ll do fine, and I’m very involved in my work, and that’s been the best thing that could happen to me,” she explained. “But I’ll always miss him, of course, and always love him. He was a great partner to me.”