Dolly Parton made a devastating confession about her career after the death of her husband of 59 years.
The music legend met her partner when she was just 18, and he was 23.
She described their 59-year-relationship as a ‘great love story,’ after the 82-year-old passed away in March.
Her husband, Carl Dean, wasn’t a man who lived for the glitz and glamour of his wife’s celebrity lifestyle.
In fact, after attending one event with Dolly in the very early days of her career, he decided it was the first and last he would ever go to.
In a 2023 episode of What Would Dolly Do? on Apple Music, she revealed why her husband liked the quiet life.
She said: “He went to one thing with me early on, when we first married, to a BMI Song of the Year [event], and he came out of there taking off his tuxedo, his tie and all that and said, ‘Don’t ever ask me to go to another one of these damn things because I ain’t going.’
“I never asked him, and he never did.”
She previously noted that Carl spent most of his time at their estate near Nashville, but could come and go as he pleased, given that his under-the-radar attitude meant he was never recognised – unlike his superstar wife.
Despite the life of luxury she could provide for the two of them, the pair decided not to have any children.
Speaking to Saga Magazine in 2023, the icon shed light on why she and Carl kept their family as a duo.
She said: “When you’re a young couple, you think you’re going to have kids, but it just wasn’t one of those burning things for me.
“I had my career and my music and I was traveling.
“If I’d had kids, I’d have stayed at home with them I’m sure, and worried myself to death about them.”
During a recent appearance on Khloe Kardashian’s podcast, the 79-year-old made a confession about her career after dealing with the loss of her husband.
She noted: “I can’t do it right now ‘cause I got so many other things that I can’t afford the luxury of, you know, of getting emotional right now.
“I’ll write something else, though, if it comes. I’m just putting that all on hold.”
She announced the death of her husband to fans on Instagram on March 3.
She wrote: “Like all great love stories, they never end.
“They live on in memory and song.
“He will always be the star of my life story.”
In a 2015 interview, Dolly told People that the secret behind their love was that she and Carl were very different from one another.
She said: “They say that opposites attract, and it’s true.
“We’re completely opposite, but that’s what makes it fun.
“I never know what he’s gonna say or do. He’s always surprising me.”
