BRENTWOOD, NASHVILLE: American Country music icon, actress, author, and philanthropist Dolly Rebecca Parton has now revealed the real reason behind her decision to retire from touring.
The 77-year-old singer shared with Good Housekeeping that she doesn’t want to leave her husband, Carl Thomas Dean, retired from his asphalt-paving busness, on his own for long periods.
“I don't tour anymore. I've got so many business things I'm doing. And my husband and I are getting older...and I kind of need to be with him.”
She added that performers have to “be committed to that (touring). And I did that all my life.”
This came as a surprise to many, as reportedly she once said that she would “rather die on stage” than retire. However, Parton insisted that she had never thought that giving up her musical career was a viable option.
“I might take off of you know, a month instead of a week, but no, I don't plan to ever retire,” she said.
The multiple-time Academy and Grammy Award-winning performer stated that she would only stop performing if “my husband was sick and really needed me, or I was sick, that'd be the only two reasons I would ever quit,” and hoped that “that never happens.”
According to various reports, her husband Carl, now age 81, is retired from the asphalt-paving business and “loves living on the farm.”
A marriage spanning 57 years
After graduating from high school, Dolly Parton left her hometown of Sevierville, Tennessee, and headed to Nashville.
On her first day in the city, 18-year-old Dolly was doing her laundry at the Wishy Washy laundromat when Carl Dean, who was 21 at the time, drove by in his white Chevy pickup truck.
He stopped to tell her that she was going to get a sunburn in her revealing outfit. Then, as Dolly went indoors to fold her clothes, Carl struck up a conversation with her.
For the pair's Golden wedding anniversary in 2016, Carl said in a statement, "My first thought was I'm gonna marry that girl. My second thought was, Lord she's good lookin'. And that was the day my life began. I wouldn't trade the last 50 years for nothing on this earth."
The couple started dating, and Dolly signed with Monument Records shortly after. Dolly's love life and career skyrocketed whereas Carl chose to lead a private lifestyle.
Two years later, Dolly and Carl arranged for a secret wedding ceremony in Ringgold, Georgia on May 30, 1966.
They decided to hold the ceremony out of town to keep it a secret from Tennessee newspapers. The only people present at the wedding were Dolly's mother, Avie Lee, the preacher, and his wife.
Over the years, Dolly shared numerous photos of Carl on her social media profiles despite his absence from the public eye.
On her decision to quit touring
Parton last went on tour for her album ‘Pure and Simple’ which consisted of 65 shows in North America across 2016 and 2017.
In an interview with Pollstar in October of last year, the singer-songwriter disclosed her plan to retire from touring, though she did mention that she would be willing to perform at one-off concerts on special occasions.
Parton said, “I'll do special shows here and there, now and then. Maybe a long weekend of shows or just a few shows at a festival. But I have no intention of going on a full-blown tour anymore.”
The singer also mentioned that she would prioritize spending more time with her partner instead of touring.
She shared that she’d prefer to “stay a little closer to home with my husband. We're getting older now, and I don't want to be gone for four or five weeks at a time. Something could happen, I would not feel right about that, if I were gone and somebody needed me. Or I would feel bad if I had to leave a tour if somebody got sick at home and needed me and then I had to walk out on the fans.”
Dolly’s upcoming album, ‘Rockstar’, is her foray into the rock genre and is set for global release in November 2023.
