Country superstar Dolly Parton recently revealed a “painful secret” she has kept from fans for years concerning her late husband, Carl Dean.
During an interview with The Independent, published on Wednesday, the 78-year-old singer told her fans that Dean had been “ill for quite a while” prior to his death on March 3. He was 82.
Parton told the media outlet, “I really feel his presence. I just try to go on, because I know I have to.”
“And he was ill for quite a while, and part of me was at peace that he was at peace and not suffering anymore. But that still doesn’t make up for the loss and the loneliness of it,” she continued.
When discussing how she is coping with the heart-wrenching loss, she said religion is what gets her through each day.
“I am a person of faith, and I truly believe that I’m going to see him again someday,” Parton told The Independent.
“And I see him every day in my memories and in my heart, and in all the things that we used to do and all the things that we’ve built together. You just kind of have to learn to kind of make new plans – but that’s the hardest part,” Parton added.
In a statement released immediately following her husband’s death in Nashville, the country sensation said, “Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years.”
She finished by telling fans, “Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.”
Parton also revealed that one of her signature hits, “Jolene,” was inspired by an attractive bank teller who was interested in her husband. The story first came out during a concert at the Glastonbury Festival in 2014.
“Now, some of you may or may not know that that song was loosely based on a little bit of truth,” she told the crowd. “I wrote that years ago when my husband…was spending a little more time with Jolene than I thought he should be.”
Fans booed the tale of Dean’s wandering eye, but Parton reassured everyone that she “put a stop to that” and “got rid of that redhead woman in a hurry.” The crowd erupted in cheers.
Parton then told her audience that channeling her emotions into the Grammy-winning song made her a rich woman.
“I want you folks to know, though, that something good can come from anything,” Parton said. “Had it not been for that woman, I would never have written Jolene, and I wouldn’t have made all that money, so thank you, Jolene.”
