Dolly Parton Gave Rare Comments On Marriage Months Before Husband Carl Dean's Death

Amid the neverending tornado that was her worldwide fame, Dolly Parton’s late husband was her peace.

Carl Dean sadly passed away at age 83 on Monday, over five decades after marrying the country legend. Dolly’s husband was an extremely private man, so she rarely spoke about him. However, just a few months ago, the 9 to 5 singer gave rare comments about their marriage and how much she truly values him as a partner. During an interview with E! News last May, the 79-year-old spilled:

“It is important to have someone there in your corner and you know they’ll love you for just who you are. There’s a great comfort in knowing that someone loves you exactly for who you are — because he fell in love with me before I became a star … To him, I’m his star.”

Awww… Dolly and Carl got hitched nearly 60 years ago in 1966 when the singer was just 20 and her man was 23. They truly spent their whole lives together.

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Dolly went on to explain how their dynamic — a pop diva marrying a businessman who “didn’t care” much for fame — “worked for us because we both do different things and it’s exciting when we are together.” She explained:

“We just enjoy each other. One of the things that we like to do — not necessarily a date night, we have a lot of date days — we have our little RV and we like to travel around. Going down and get some food, or I’ll make a picnic and we go down to the river.”

That’s so, so sweet. What a beautiful relationship they shared. It makes his death all the more heartbreaking!

She spoke more about Carl to the outlet again in December — and noted they’ve “never missed” the chance to spend Christmas together because it’s always been a “sacred time” for them. Especially the tenderness of gift giving:

“Carl and I have never bought big fancy presents for each other. When I see things through the years that I think he would like, when I’m out, I’ll just kind of collect stuff and give them to him.”

She added:

“He knows I love to cook when I’m home and he always buys me something for the kitchen. A new pot or a new pan or some kind of something he’s seen on TV he thinks I might like.”

Ugh. What a devastating loss for Dolly. They seemed like such a loving and nurturing couple. Our hearts are so broken for her.

Rest in peace, Carl.

[Image via CBS/YouTube]