Dolly Parton, who died at age 80 on Tuesday after a battle with cancer, lived a life that often mirrored the narratives of her country music songs. Her marriage of over 60 years to Carl Dean, a relationship she described as being between "old mountain goats" who would be together until death, was a significant constant in her public life.
Dean died in March of the previous year, and a source told the Daily Mail that Parton had been "going downhill" since his passing, attributing it to the significant toll his death took on her. The couple, who married two years after meeting when Parton was 18, shared a bond that lasted through her rise to fame. Parton, the fourth of 12 children, also expressed a desire to become a mother, but a partial hysterectomy prevented the couple from having children.
Behind the Scenes
Despite her public devotion, Parton's relationship with the often-private businessman, who owned a local asphalt firm, was reportedly complex. In the early 1980s, Parton admitted to having an "affair of the heart," a secret relationship she detailed in her 2017 memoir. While she never named the individual, clues suggested it might have been her band leader, Gregg Perry. The end of this relationship was so devastating, Parton wrote, that it "just about killed me," leading her to contemplate suicide and find a gun in her bedside table.
Parton was also romantically linked to her 1982 film co-star Burt Reynolds. However, she denied any romantic involvement, humorously stating they were too alike, both wearing wigs, high heels, and having similar builds. Reynolds was reportedly angered by her remarks. Parton often addressed rumors of infidelity, telling ABC News in 2012 that she had been accused of being involved with many men she was seen or worked with, but she never confirmed or denied such claims.
She once offered conflicting accounts of her marriage's dynamics, alternately stating she would kill her husband if he cheated and then confirming an open marriage, which she clarified meant only in the sense of flirting. "Yes, it's an open relationship, but not sexually and I would kill him if I thought he was doing that," she stated. "He would shoot me too. At the end of the day, we love each other madly."
"Jolene" and Persistent Rumors
The inspiration for her hit song "Jolene" stemmed from a red-haired bank clerk who Parton said flirted with Dean. "She got this terrible crush on my husband," Parton told NPR in 2008, describing it as a running joke between them about how much time he spent at the bank. "So it's really an innocent song all around but sounds like a dreadful one."
Parton also consistently denied long-standing rumors of a secret lesbian relationship with her assistant and childhood friend, Judy Ogle. "I'm not gay. If I was gay, I would have come out of the closet just a-flying," she asserted on Nightline in 2012. The rumors persisted, fueled partly by Dean's public reticence and Parton's acknowledgment that she and Ogle sometimes shared a bed. Parton explained their closeness as a deep, platonic friendship, stating, "Judy and I have been best friends since we were like in the third and fourth grade... we're not romantically involved."
Activism and Inclusivity
Despite the rumors, Parton was an outspoken supporter of gay rights and became an icon within the LGBTQ community for her activism. She wrote a song for the 2005 film TransAmerica, about a transgender woman, and spoke against North Carolina's 2016 bathroom bill. In 2014, she advocated for marriage equality, humorously stating, "I think gay couples should be allowed to marry. They should suffer just like us heterosexuals. Ha ha ha!" By 2023, she had condemned Tennessee laws that legalized discrimination against transgender people, emphasizing her belief in treating everyone with kindness. "I just want everybody to be treated good," she told the Hollywood Reporter. "I try not to get into the politics of everything. I try to get into the human element of it. I have some of everybody in my own immediate family and in my circle of employees. I've got transgender people. I've got gays. I've got lesbians. I've got drunks. I've got drug addicts - all within my own family. I know and love them all, and I do not judge."