The ever-humble Tennessee mountain queen. Dolly Parton lost her husband of almost 60 years, Carl Dean, passed away in Nashville at the age of 82 in March, and they had a beautiful love story. The famous story goes that Dolly and Carl met outside of the Wishy Washy laundromat in Nashville in 1964, the same day that Dolly moved to Music City. They dated for two years, and decided they wanted to get married. And actually, at the time of their wedding, Dolly’s newfound record label didn’t want her to get married at all. They thought it might tarnish her image, and as we all know, Dolly did what she wanted anyways… so she and Carl Dean secretly ran off to Ringgold, Georgia, along with Parton’s mom Avie Lee as a witness, and headed for the local courthouse. Their relationship last for decades, and even though Carl stayed out of the spotlight and didn’t want anything to do with show business, they seemed to be very happy and leaned on each other for many different things throughout their lives. But they kept it surprisingly simple, as Dolly explained that once she hit it big and started making millions, she never wanted to upgrade her wedding ring for a bigger diamond or flashier look, which actually sounds like the opposite of Dolly in many ways, she comes from humble beginnings and always carries that with her. I mean, I don’t know many women who wouldn’t want to get a bigger diamond if they had the chance, to be fair… Dolly and Carl actually bought their wedding rings on credit (Carl’s mom’s credit card) at Sears back in the day, and Dolly previously recalled how sentimental both of the rings were, saying she once lost the small diamond in hers and “freaked out,” because of how much it meant to her. It was just half a carat, but obviously it was priceless to her, and so they went back to Sears and replaced it with the same diamond, on credit, so it felt like it “was still the original:” “I was never willing to change them for a bigger stone, but several years later, I lost a stone and it freaked me out. I didn’t know where I lost it. So I thought, ‘Oh, what am I going to do?’ Even though it’s just half a carat, it’s just a tiny little piece, they were personal. So we went back to Sears and bought the stone, and even though we could have afforded it, we charged it. We paid on it so it would feel like it was still the original.” I think that story says so much about who Dolly is and how pure her heart really is… they really did have a beautiful life together. Carl is also featured in Dolly’s new Broadway production, DOLLY: A True Original Musical, which is headed to New York City in 2026 after it opened in Nashville this past summer. Dolly said in a recent interview that it’s all been a very emotional experience, and she cries every time she watches the cast perform a song called “From Here To The Moon and Back” in particular, which is about her love for her late husband: “I get very emotional. Like the part about Carl, of course… John Behlmann, who plays Carl, does such a wonderful job. When they start singing a song called ‘From Here To The Moon and Back,’ I cry every time. In a way, it’s kind of healing to relive my life like that. To sit back and watch it, instead of having to live it.” Dolly has not stopped working hardly at all since Carl passed earlier this year, but I’m sure behind closed doors it’s been an extremely difficult time for the country queen and she’s still very much in the throws of grief after losing the love of her life. The song she released in the wake of his death, “If You Hadn’t Been There,” says it all: The post Dolly Parton & Carl Dean Bought Their Wedding Rings At Sears On Credit, & Dolly Refused To Ever Upgrade Her Small Diamond: “I Was Never Willing To Change Them… They Were Personal” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.