According to Dolly Parton’s website, Dolly Parton met her husband Karl Dean on her first day in Nashville when she was 18 years old.
The music and entertainment icon was just beginning her career when she met Dean outside of Wishy Wasy Laundromat. The two dated for two years and married in 1966. They were married for 59 years until his death in March 2025.
“Words cannot express the love we shared for over 60 years,” Parton said in a statement after her death.
Parton passed away on Tuesday after a short battle with cancer.
During their decades together, Parton was often asked about the secret to her and Dean’s successful relationship. It’s a message that will resonate with couples looking for a similarly lasting bond. Here’s what she said and why experts think their relationship has stood the test of time.
“Being opposites in some aspects of your personality can be an advantage.”
First, Parton says they were polar opposites in many ways.
“He loves going on vacations and little trips, but he doesn’t want to be away from home for long periods of time,” she told People magazine in 2015. “He mostly wants to be around the house. He knows I’m just the opposite. I can’t go anywhere enough and can’t do enough.”
Being different can strengthen relationships, but only in certain ways.
“A quiet person may be attracted to someone who is very outgoing, which makes social activities easier because the talkative person does most of the work,” says Amy Morin, a psychotherapist and author of “13 Things Mentally Strong Couples Don’t Do.”
But relationships are hard to maintain when each partner’s core values are different from the other’s or they don’t share a commitment to being together, she says.
“It is essential that each person has some degree of independence.”
Parton has always said that they are very independent. “He likes being home and I like being away,” she told Entertainment Tonight in 2006. “So that’s how it works for us.”
“It’s important for each person to have some independence and have some of their needs met outside of the relationship,” Morin says.
“Each partner has their own interests and they want to talk about different things. Being independent allows us to stay interested in each other,” she says.
“Sharing a sense of humor shows both cultural and intellectual compatibility.”
Dean made Parton laugh. “He has a wonderful, twisted sense of humor,” she told People.
“Research consistently highlights that humor compatibility is a key predictor of long-term relationship satisfaction,” says Sara Nasserzadeh, author of the award-winning book Love by Design: 6 Elements to Build a Lifetime of Love.
“Sharing a sense of humor shows that you are culturally and intellectually compatible,” she says. “When two people laugh at the same thing, it shows that they process information through similar cognitive lenses, understand the same nuances, and share a worldview of what is funny, absurd, and sacred.”
“Don’t try to change the other person”
Strong relationships can lay the foundation for success for the rest of your life.
“A grounded and secure partnership can unleash enormous creative and professional energy, allowing someone to step out into the world and achieve extraordinary results,” says Nasserzadeh.
Dean may have been a key factor in Parton’s success.
“Don’t try to change your partner,” says Morin. “Support them for who they are and what they want to achieve.”
