Dolly Partonis making true on her signature promise, "I will always love you." Inan interview with Entertainment Tonight,the celebrated songstress opened up about life without husband Carl Dean,who died in March,revealing that while work has kept her busy, she knows she "will miss him forever." "I'm having to really go through a lot, trying to be without him because I was with him for so long,"Partonsaid. The singer, 79, met Dean when she was 18 years old, and the two spent six decades together. "I'm doing as well as someone can after 60 years of being with and loving somebody," she continued. "When Carl did pass away, I thought I gotta do something, so I'm going to just put that song out as a tribute to him." Dolly Parton spills on Cowboyscheerleader outfit, her iconic look: 'A lot of maintenance' Shortly afterDean's death,Partonreleased"If You Hadn't Been There,"a single chronicling their tender and enduring love, and decorated with a cover photo of the pair shortly after their first meeting. "I fell in love with Carl Dean when I was 18 years old,"Partonwrote inan Instagram postannouncing the song. "We have spent 60 precious and meaningful years together. Like all great love stories, they never end. They live on in memory and song. He will always be the star of my life story, and I dedicate this song to him." The track, a slow-moving ballad characteristic ofParton's signature sound, pays tributeto Dean's supportthroughout their relationship. Dolly Parton: 'The whole magic about meis that I look artificial, but I'm totally real' For a woman known by her words,Partonstayed fairly mumon Deanthroughout theirnear 60-year marriage.That he rarely made any public appearances only grew the mystique around him. Since his death, fans have been given more of a window than ever into the leading man behind one of the music industry's most leading women. "He did suffer a lot for the last few years, and there's a part of me that's happy that he's at peace and at rest,"Partontold ET. "But then, of course, there's that part of me that will miss him forever and long for him every day for the rest of my life. "It's always hard to lose someone that you love, but you do the best you can and the fact that I've got my work has been probably the best blessing," she continued. Dolly Parton's rare quotes on husbandCarl Dean – plus what she said just before his death It was Dean's enduring support that allowed her to strive for excellence in music and cultivate alasting bond, she often said. "There's always that safety, that security, that strength,"she told Knox News, part of the USA TODAY Network, in 2024. "He's a good man, and we've had a good life and he's been a good husband." And just like any couple, despite the glitz and glam of Parton's stage life, she planned to put it all aside if Dean "needed" her. "I would only retire if I was ill or if my husband was ill and needed me," Parton told USA TODAY in 2024. "That'd be the only thing that would make me pull back." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Dolly Parton after Carl Dean death is going 'through a lot'
