Despite having performed and sung for most of her life, the Tennessee native has grown to be nothing short of a legend, and she enjoys entertaining her horde of fans.
Even though she continues making new music, the 76-year-old music icon has announced that she will no longer tour.
Dolly Parton explained why she would no longer be on tour in a recent interview with Pollystar.
“From time to time, I put on one-of-a-kind shows. Perform a few shows during a festival or throughout a long weekend. However, I no longer intend to go on a full-fledged tour.”
Instead, the 76-year-old country music legend will continue to make music and devote her time to her beloved husband, Carl Thomas Dean.
Dolly and Carl Dean met in front of the Wishy Washy Laundromat in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1964. Dolly was 18 years old at the time, and Carl was 21. Carl immediately saw something unusual about the young lady.
According to an interview, Dean told her when they first met, “I’m going to marry that girl.”
My second thought was, “Lord, she’s beautiful. That was the beginning of my existence. I wouldn’t trade the last 50 years for anything in the world.”
Dolly recalls Dean “holling” at her when he saw her in his pickup truck. She, on the other hand, declined his invitation to a date. Instead, she invited him a few days later while watching her nephew. It was the start of a love tale that would last a lifetime.
Dolly and Carl married in a private ceremony in Ringgold, Georgia, in May 1966. Because she had a career to consider, her record company encouraged them to postpone their wedding.
But Dean and Dolly didn’t want to wait, so they decided to marry in Georgia rather than Tennessee, where no one would write about it. Only Dolly, Carl, and her mother were present.
Since then, Dolly and Carl have been deeply in love. In 2016, the pair celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. As a way to commemorate, they decided to renew their vows.
They will now spend a lot more time together.
In an interview with Pollstar, Parton expounded on her on-tour experience:
“I’ve done that my entire life; it takes a lot of time and work.” I prefer to stay closer to home with my husband. Because we are becoming older, I don’t want to travel away for four or five weeks at a time. Something could happen. I wouldn’t be happy if I were gone and someone needed me. Or I’d feel terrible if I had to terminate a tour early because someone at home required my assistance, and I couldn’t abandon the fans.”
The singer claims that her husband will also classify her most recent musical compositions as rock n’ roll. Parton was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year.
“‘Well, there’s no better time than now,’ I reasoned after learning that I’d been nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I’d wanted to do it for a long time. I’ve been thinking for years, ‘One of these days, I’d like to do an album basically just for him, just to kind of do it,’ since my husband is a tremendous hard rock ‘n’ roll fan.”
While finishing her new album, the singer is reportedly working on a Christmas special for NBC this year.
Have a good time, Dolly! You’ve been incredibly kind to us! Relax and take it all in right now! We will remember you forever.