#616 Dolly Parton – I Will Always Love You

Forgive us a slightly soppy one but it’s the 50th wedding anniversary of Dolly Parton and Carl Dean today, so what could be more fitting than this? Dolly wrote the song in 1973, actually as a farewell to Porter Wagoner as she prepared for launch her solo career, but we’re pretty sure it applies at home too. Dolly and Carl married quietly in Georgia in 1966, trying to keep it a secret from Parton’s record label – which seems appropriate given how many couples now elope to Dollywood for their own big day. They’re planning to mark the big day by renewing their vows. “He [my husband] don’t like to do this kind of thing as a rule, but he’s like me – he’s proud we’ve made it 50 years,” Dolly told Nashville station WKRN. “We’ve been together 52 years. We dated two years and then we got married. We going to do it [renew our vows]. He said he would, so he better – or it won’t last another year.”