Dolly Parton is one of country music’s most beloved stars. Her success can be seen as emblematic of the American Dream, given her rural upbringing in a large family with little means in the mountains of Tennessee. One of Dolly Parton’s lesser known accomplishments, however, is her long-lasting marriage to the ever elusive Carl Dean. Their love story is far from unusual, except for the part where she’s a public figure, and he seemed to lead a mundane life away from the spotlight. Somehow, they’ve figured out a way to keep their relationship going. After years of speculation, Dolly is finally opening up about the secret to their success.

Wedding Rules

As excited as both the Partons and the Deans were for their children, Dolly would have to deflate their joy when her label called and gave her instructions as to how they wanted her wedding to play out.

WSL – Spurs

Given that she was on the verge of releasing her debut album, the executives didn’t want her wedding to be a distraction from the work they’d done cultivating their image. Dolly was eager to please, but wouldn’t be deterred just yet.

Going For Half A Century

Dolly Parton is rarely seen with her husband by her side, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been behind the scenes for the majority of her career.

Parton and her husband, Carl Dean have been married for more than 50 years, but getting to that milestone hasn’t always been an easy road to travel. In her recently released book, Dolly on Dolly: Interviews and Encounters with Dolly Parton, she shared some surprising revelations about her long-lasting relationship.

A Whirly-wind Romance

Dolly Parton moved to Nashville the moment she graduated high school, and it seemed fate was on her side. The day after she moved, she happened to meet and fall in love with a handsome stranger who spotted her doing laundry at the Wishy Washy Laundromat.

He was concerned that she would get a sunburn in her revealing clothing and saw fit to tell her so. Dolly said she immediately noticed he was looking at her face first, and the couple quickly fell in love.

Giving In To Surprise

Dolly Parton was enchanted by the tall, good-looking stranger who seemed so worried about her creamy skin. The attraction went more than skin deep, however, as Dolly found herself “surprised and delighted” that he was looking at her while they chatted, rather than just her body.

The “rare thing for me,” she said—and “seemed to be genuinely interested in finding out who I was and what I was about.”

Shy From Dollywood

Dolly’s success has spanned countless hit records and singles, but it also gave her the ability to branch out from just focusing on music. She’s quite possibly the only star, in the United States at least, who has their own theme park.

The park itself is situated not too far from her hometown. There’s just one little problem…Dolly is afraid of riding on roller coasters.“I’ve got too much to lose—like my hair!” she once told USA Today.

Covering The Art

As Dolly’s career progressed, many rumors began to spring up about the different sort of work she had done to her body, namely that she was absolutely covered with ink.

Dolly hasn’t been shy about her surgical procedures, so it seems just a little weird that she would go to great lengths to hide tattoos from the public. In truth, Dolly finally divulged that she did have some tattoos in hidden places, which she had gotten done to cover scars.

Bringing The Bombshell

One of Dolly’s most recognizable characteristics is her shapely silhouette. When she was asked about being teased for the size and shape of her assets, Dolly answered that in the beginning, she was somewhat uncomfortable on what people were focusing their attention on.

Then, she added,  “I realized that it was me showing it off with tight clothes and stuff. So, it don’t bother me as long as it’s in good taste.  If it gets tacky, I don’t respond and that makes them look worse…”

Flipped On Its Head

There’s one thing that Dolly has never made a secret of, and that’s her love of surgical fixes. “I try to make positives out of negatives.

I did whatever I needed to build my confidence, and when people don’t believe I had plastic surgery, I say “Yeah, I don’t look old but I have aged my plastic surgeons.” She continued by adding that all of the work she does is to make sure how much she really works doesn’t show.

Back To The Grind

Dolly’s 1980 film, 9 to 5, which starred the singer along with Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda was a massive hit, but surprisingly, they never made a sequel.

Now, she’s revealed why.”I was never willing to do a sequel, because they never came up with anything that was as good as the original. I don’t like to mess with history, you know? But this would be addressing the same issues, and they need to be addressed again and some more, in different ways.”

In The Name Of Love

Dolly may have no plans to stop working, even at 72, but she did say there was one thing that would make her slow down, even just a little bit.

She shared with People, “If my husband needed me, or someone in my family, I would put him first,” she says about her longtime love. “I’ve always put myself first and my career first, but if something were to happen to him, I would pull back on that.”