<p id=”par-1_64″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/dolly-parton/”>Dolly Parton’s</a> husband, <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/celebrity-relationships/?swcfpc=1″>Carl Dean</a>, almost never joined her in public. They attended an event together in the early days of her career, and he was so visibly uncomfortable that he has stayed home for every ceremony since. He hardly even went to her concerts. Parton admitted she was very nervous on one of the occasions she had to perform in front of him.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-dolly-parton-said-she-was-nervous-to-perform-in-front-of-her-husband”>Dolly Parton said she was nervous to perform in front of her husband</h2>
<p id=”par-2_18″>Dean has always been <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/dolly-parton-said-husband-untarnished-thing-life.html/”>supportive of Parton’s career</a>, but he rarely attended her concerts to watch her perform.</p>
<p id=”par-3_50″>“‘[Carl] is not a show person,” she said, per the book <em><a href=”https://www.amazon.com/Dolly-Alanna-Nash/dp/0891695230″ target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Dolly: The Biography</a></em> by Alanna Nash. “He’s a quiet and home-loving person. If he comes to a show, he likes to go on his own. Most of the time I don’t know when he’s coming. It’s good that way.”</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Dolly-Parton-3.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”A black and white picture of Dolly Parton standing in front of a microphone with an acoustic guitar.” class=”wp-image-3785947″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Dolly Parton | Richard E. Aaron/Redferns</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-4_38″>Parton said it was good she didn’t know when he was coming because knowing he was there put her nerves on edge. Her anxiety spiked as she prepared for a show when she knew he was in attendance.</p>
<p id=”par-5_18″>“I was a nervous wreck,” she said shortly after the show. “And it was very emotional for him.”</p>
<p id=”par-6_10″>Parton shared the feedback Dean gave her after the concert.</p>
<p id=”par-7_16″>“He thought that if I really kept at it, I might be somebody someday,” she joked.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-her-band-said-they-hardly-knew-carl-dean”>Her band said they hardly knew Carl Dean</h2>
<p id=”par-8_22″>Parton’s band scarcely ever saw Dean, even when he did attend the shows. They explained that he <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/dolly-partons-husband-told-not-invite-awards-show-1967.html/”>stayed out of the way</a>.</p>
<p id=”par-9_37″>“You’d never see Carl,” backup singer Mary Fielder said. “He’d drive up and see her, and usually stay backstage or in the audience. Carl’s really in the background. He doesn’t interfere or include himself in any way.”</p>
<p id=”par-10_31″>He once surprised everyone when he pranked Parton by getting onstage with the backup singers. The band found that Dean was a fun, “witty” person once they got to know him.</p>
<p id=”par-11_33″>“Carl’s a great practical joker,” guitarist Tom Rutledge said. “He’ll do anything. Here’s a guy who never ever came out to the show for six years, and now he’s up on stage singing!”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-dolly-parton-said-people-bothered-her-husband-into-attending-her-shows”>Dolly Parton said people bothered her husband into attending her shows</h2>
<p id=”par-12_55″>According to Parton, there were two reasons why Dean began attending her shows. It had taken her a while to get to a comfortable place with her band and performance style, and he wanted to wait until she was happy with the shows. He also got <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/dolly-partons-husband-started-attending-concerts-tired-people-bugging.html/”>sick of people asking him</a> why he didn’t go.</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-2″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Dolly-Parton-husband-1-1-1.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Dolly Parton wears yellow and holds a microphone.” class=”wp-image-3785045″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Dolly Parton | Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
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<p id=”par-13_31″>“He just got tired of people buggin’ him about it,” Parton said. “And then he knew I didn’t until just lately have my show the way I wanted it to be.”</p>