Dolly Parton and Carl Dean quietly eloped to Ringgold, Georgia, on May 30, 1966. At the time, Dolly’s music career was beginning to take off, and Fred Foster, the head of Monument Records, had asked her to postpone marriage for a year so she could focus on her career.
Dolly had other plans. Determined to marry Carl without creating a stir or having the wedding announced in her local Tennessee papers, the couple slipped across the state line into Georgia and said “I do.”
She may have honored her career commitments—but she wasn’t about to put the love of her life on hold. ❤️
Dolly Parton had a way of making everyone feel special, and seen, and welcomed, and as if you were old friends. I will miss her heart and her voice as I am sure millions will. What an incredible gift and talent she was and still is with an amazing catalogue of art she has left behind for all of us.