Dolly Parton’s family: From the singer’s late husband Carl Dean to her 11 brothers and sisters

COUNTRY icon Dolly Parton’s husband Carl Dean and her large family stayed very much out of the limelight. She was married to Carl for nearly 60 years and he died in Nashville, Tennessee, in March 2025 at the age of 82. Dolly grew up in a large family, with six brothers and five sisters Carl Dean and Dolly Parton were married for nearly 60 years, seen here in 2017 Credit: Splash News How long were her and Carl Dean married for? Dolly and Carl had a long and happy marriage, being wed for nearly 60 years. Now, the country icon has died at the age of 80. Sign up for the Showbiz newsletter Thank you! At the time of his death, Dolly posted on social media: “Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. “Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Read More on Dolly Parton “Thank you for your prayers and sympathy”. The couple met outside a laundromat on the first day she arrived in Nashville, when she was an 18-year-old aspiring singer. Recalling her first meeting, she said: “I was surprised and delighted that while he talked to me, he looked at my face (a rare thing for me). “He seemed to be genuinely interested in finding out who I was and what I was about.” Most read in Showbiz They married two years later on May 30, 1966, with the couple exchanging vows in a private ceremony in Ringgold, Georgia. Carl stayed out of the spotlight, preferring instead to focus on his asphalt-paving business in Nashville. However, he did have an influence on her music, most famously helping her to write her classic hit Jolene. In 2008 she told US media the song was about a bank teller who developed a crush on her husband. Who are Dolly Parton’s 11 brothers and sisters? Dolly came from a big family, with her 11 siblings, including six brother and five sisters. They were all raised in a three-bedroom cabin. Willadeene, David, Coy, Robert Jr., Stella, Cassie, Randy, Larry, Floyd and twins Freida and Rachel. Dolly’s parents Robert and Avie Lee Parton settled near the Smoky Mountains in Sevierville, Tennessee, While the family of 14 were not well-off they were a close-knit family. Dolly said in February 2016: “With that many brothers and sisters there was plenty of teasing and fighting. “But we were all in it together.” How many children does Dolly have? Although Dolly and Carl were married for so many years, they never had children together. Her goddaughter is the singer Miley Cyrus. As Carl stayed very much out of the limelight, rumours even stared that he did not really exist, giving Dolly reason to have a joke about it all. She said in 1984: “A lot of people say there’s no Carl Dean, that he’s just somebody I made up to keep other people off me,” Comment now