olly Parton has always been a beacon of strength, light, and positivity, and at this time in her life, she’s healing. In a recent interview, the 79-year-old got deep and vulnerable after losing her husband of 57 years, Carl Dean, on March 3. He was 82 years old.

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Carl Thomas Dean

Speaking to Knox News on Monday, the “9 to 5” singer said she’s doing better than she thought she would. “I’ve been with him 60 years,” she explained.

While the cause of the retired asphalt road pavers passing has not been revealed, she shared some heartbreaking details, saying, “He suffered a great deal.” “I’m at peace that he’s at peace,” she said, adding, “but that doesn’t keep me from missing him and loving him.”

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Dolly Parton and Carl Dean

Following his death, Parton is on the road to healing. “It’s a hole in my heart, you know, but we’ll fill that up with good stuff and he’ll still always be with me,” she said.

Parton’s first public appearance since his passing

Parton made her first public appearance since Dean’s passing at the 40th-season celebration of her famous theme park, Dollywood, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. As she smiled through the festivities, Parton explained, “I need to laugh. I need some fun, so I’m probably gonna be stupid. I’ve been crying enough the last week or two.”

She also shared an adorable anecdote about her late husband, saying he would visit the park on his own and stand in line to buy a ticket. “He didn’t want somebody giving him a ticket because he was Dolly’s husband,” she recalled.

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Dolly Parton attends Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs In Symphony World Premiere at Schermerhorn Symphony Center on March 20, 2025

On March 20, she smiled for the cameras at Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs In Symphony World Premiere at Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Their love story

Parton and Dean were married on May 30, 1966. She announced his death on social media, 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 privacy and sympathy.”

He was the quiet force behind some of her music, including one of her most iconic songs, “Jolene.” The song was inspired by a bank teller who flirted with him. Her ballad “From Here to the Moon and Back” is also about their enduring love.

Their story is precious and a testament to long-lasting love. They met outside a laundromat on the first day she moved to Nashville in 1964. “I was surprised and delighted that while he talked to me, he looked at my face (a rare thing for me). He seemed to be genuinely interested in finding out who I was and what I was about,” she wrote on her website.

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Country singer Dolly Parton poses for a portrait in 1965 in Nashville, Tennessee

For him, it was love at first sight. “My first thought was I’m gonna marry that girl,” Dean said when they renewed their vows for their 50th wedding anniversary in 2016, per ET. “My second thought was, ‘Lord, she’s good-looking.’ And that was the day my life began.”

They married two years after meeting, and while Parton became a global superstar, Dean remained steadfastly private, running his asphalt paving business and letting his wife shine.

He rarely appeared in public with Parton, fueling endless speculation about their relationship. She often joked that their secret to lasting love was that he stayed home while she traveled the world. “He’s always been my biggest fan behind the scenes,” she once said.

Last year, on Bunnie Xo’s podcast Dumb Blonde, Parton opened up about his desire for privacy, saying, “He doesn’t want me to tell the world nothing about Carl, so there you go. I can talk all I want to, but he’ll say, ‘Just leave me out of the whole damn thing.'”