Dolly Parton will never forget her late husband, Carl Dean.
During a TODAY show appearance on Friday, the “9 to 5″ singer spoke about her life since Dean’s passing in March. "I get very emotional when people bring it up,” she said as she began tearing up.
Parton continued: "I’ve loved him since I was 18 years old, and it’s a big adjustment just trying to change patterns and habits. I’ll do fine. I’m very involved in my work and that’s been the best thing that could happen to me. But I’ll always miss him, of course, and I’ll always love him,” she said.
Parton and Dean married in 1966 in a private ceremony when she was 20 years old. Their wedding was kept under wraps as her record label asked the then-up-and-coming singer to wait a year for the sake of her career. However, she and Dean were too crazy about each other to wait any longer.
Dean passed away on March 3 in their Nashville home. He was 82. His cause of death was never confirmed, but he was reportedly diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2019. In 2022, Parton announced she would no longer be going on tour in order to spend more time at home with him.
At the time of his Dean’s passing, Parton shared a statement on Instagram, writing: “Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.”
A few days after his death, she released the single, “If You Hadn’t Been There,” in tribute to Dean. “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,” she penned in an Instagram post promoting the song. The cover art was a photo of a young Parton with her arms around Dean.
