Beloved singer and songwriter Dolly Parton just dropped a bombshell admission about her husband, Carl Dean, during an interview with a British morning show. This news comes weeks after she was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year at the 2019 Grammy Awards.
In an interview with Good Morning Britain, Parton admitted to show host Kate Garraway that her secretive husband Dean “isn’t a big fan of my music.”
She also admitted that Dean has only seen her perform a handful of times throughout the couple’s 52-year marriage and her 60-year music career.
“He’s not necessarily one of the biggest fans of my music. He’s proud of me and he loves that I love what I do but… It’s a touchy subject. I’m like his little girl and he worries about that,” she admitted on GMB.
She noted during the interview that the couple’s marriage has survived so long because of their love of laughter and of being in each other’s company. She called it the “healthiest and most precious” part of their relationship.
“He likes hard rock, he likes Led Zeppelin and bluegrass music, so my music is somewhere in between,” she said of her husband. “He doesn’t dislike it, but he doesn’t go out of his way to play my records, let’s put it that way.”
Biography noted that Parton first hit the charts with the iconic country song “Jolene,” as well as “I Will Always Love You” — a tribute to Porter Wagoner. Wagoner was her former performing partner, with whom she split in 1974 after seven years of having worked together. The song would later be covered by singer Whitney Houston for the hit film The Bodyguard.
In 1977, Parton had her first crossover hit with “Here You Come Again.” The site noted that Parton was also recognized in the Guinness World Records 2018 edition for her accomplishments of “most decades with a Top 20 hit on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart” and “most hits on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart by a female artist.”
Parton was the first artist from the Nashville music community to be honored as the 2019 MusiCares Person of the Year. The official website for the Grammy Awards explained that MusiCares ensures musicians and their associated partners have a place to turn in times of financial, medical, and personal need.
Parton was feted during the awards show by her goddaughter Miley Cyrus, Little Big Town, Katy Perry, Maren Morris, and Kacey Musgraves. These performers sang their own versions of Parton’s biggest hits, and performed collaborations with the iconic performer.