Dolly Parton Releases Moving New Song Dedicated to Husband Carl Dean After His Death

Dolly Parton put her love in a song.  Days after her husband of 58 years, Carl Thomas Dean died at the age of 82, the 79-year-old released an emotional song in his honor.  “Carl and I fell in love when I was 18 and he was 23, and like all great love stories, they never end,” Dolly wrote alongside a throwback photo of her and Carl on Instagram March 7. “They live in memory and in song, and I dedicate this to him. ‘If You Hadn’t Been There.’”

The emotional ballad begins with Dolly speaking directly to her husband asking, “If you hadn’t been there / Where would I be?/ Without your trust /Love and believe.”  Throughout the song, Dolly reflects on the ups-and-downs of her life and sings about how her husband was there to offer support and love during their marriage.

“I wouldn’t be here / If you hadn’t been there / Holding my hand,” she sings, “Showing you care / You made me dream /More than I dared / And I wouldn’t be here / If you hadn’t been there.”  Dolly also opened up about the love and confidence her husband offered. In fact, in one of the most emotional lyrics, Dolly sings, “I thank God and you / Oh for your loving care / And for giving me love / With more to spare.”

The “9 to 5” singer’s musical tribute came one day after she broke her silence following the news of Carl’s death.  “This is a love note to family, friends and fans,” she wrote on Instagram March 6. “Thank you for all the messages, cards, and flowers that you’ve sent to pay your respects for the loss of my beloved husband Carl.”

“I can’t reach out personally to each of you but just know it has meant the world to me,” she wrote. “He is in God’s arms now and I am okay with that. I will always love you. Dolly.”

 

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Dolly and Carl’s love story began in 1964, when she met him after her arrival to Nashville, Tennessee as she began to pursue her music career. Throughout her decades-long career, Carl remained out of the spotlight.

However, his support for his wife always took the front seat.  “It is important to have someone there in your corner and you know they’ll love you for just who you are,” she told E! News in May. “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.”

She continued, “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.”