Dolly Parton Renewing Vows To Spotlight-Shy Husband Carl Dean For 50th Anniversary

"We'll take some pictures so people can actually see Carl and how he looks."

From: NewNowNext

 Dolly Parton’s launching a new album, another TV movie and a world tour, but her most passionate project is her upcoming 50th anniversary to longtime husband Carl Dean. The couple, who wed May 30, 1966 in Ringold, Georgia, will renew their vows this month in a private ceremony in Nashville.

 “How many people can say they’ve been married 50 years? We’ve made it this long, we need to do it again,” Parton, 75, told Rolling Stone. “[Parton’s creative director and clothing designer] Steve Summers designed my dress and he bought Carl a really beautiful suit, so we’re all ready.”

Honestly, Dolly could probably still fit in her original wedding dress.

Both husband and wife are getting new wedding rings, too. “My husband and I bought [our] rings on his mother’s credit card and paid for them until we paid them off,” Parton revealed. “I had this [new] one done up for the new wedding. It’s three-and-a-half carats. I had it made out in L.A.”

Dean, who runs a road-paving business in Nashville, is probably most famous for being out of sight. He studiously avoids the spotlight and eschews joining his Grammy-winning bride on the red carpet. Allegedly, he’s only ever seen her perform once.

“He’s like a brother and a father and a friend and a husband and a lover—all of those things to me,” she told People earlier this year. “I think he’s kind of proud that we’ve been in it this long!”

The fact that Dolly doesn’t parade him around like other Hollywood celebs might has long led to rumors that she’s having affairs, or gay, or that Carl doesn’t even exist. But she says he’s just a private person, and has a strong romantic impulse—surprising her and writing her poems.

“We’re really proud of our marriage,” said Parton in 2011. “It’s the first for both of us. And the last.”

The vow-renewal ceremony will be held in Nashville, with proceeds from photos going to the Imagination Library, her anti-illiteracy charity. “We’ll take some pictures so people can actually see Carl and how he looks,” she joked. “The whole thing is really going to be special.”