Country Music’s Longest Lasting Marriages
Dolly Parton lost her husband Carl Dean on Monday (3/3) at the age of 82. The news of his death has been all over the news, and everyone is writing about Dolly and the couple’s almost 60-year marriage.
Carl stayed away from the spotlight and was a bit of a mystery, and even Parton’s peers never met her husband. Still, their love was strong, as Parton wrote on Instagram, “Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words cannot do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.”
The funeral will be private and include family only.
Dolly’s long marriage got me thinking about how many country stars have been married for a long time and have escaped the celebrity curse of having a breakup.
I did some digging and gathered some of country music’s longest-lasting marriages that are still going strong today. First, of course, we honor Parton and Carl.
RELATED: Dolly Parton: ‘I’m A Star To Everybody But Me’
Dolly Parton and Carl Dean – Married on May 30, 1966
This is the marriage everyone is talking about. At the time Dolly and Carl were married, as Parton told the story many times, her record label wanted her to remain single, and she met Carl at the Wishy Washy Laundromat in Nashville. They quickly got married in Ringgold, Georgia, so their marriage would not be reported in Nashville newspapers at the time.
Dolly told Johnny Carson about meeting her husband in a 1977 appearance on The Tonight Show.
John and Martina McBride – Married on May 15, 1988
Martina said of her hubby, who owns and runs a recording studio in Nashville, “He is thoughtful, kind, considerate, romantic, handsome, and really funny.”
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill – Married on October 6, 1996
These two lovebirds are country music royalty. In the early 2000s, Tim and Faith were all anyone was talking about. The couple even got their own Barbie dolls, which Brad Paisley made fun of later in their career on a CMA Awards show.
Their duets and music videos to go along with them were epic. Their song, “It’s Your Love,” in 1997 became the first duet by a married couple to top the country chart. No such single would top the chart again until almost 26 years later, when Kane and Katelyn Brown’s “Thank God” topped the chart in February 2023.
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood – Married on December 10, 2005
Garth told me about his wife Trisha, “I think her and anybody’s a great combo, I really do. So, I just feel lucky to be there with her. What I love about it is what I try to teach my girls: be yourself, be independent, but also be as strong as you are. Some of the most strength you’re gonna have to show is the ability to bend. The ability to flex, the ability to take that pause and think, ‘What is this guy really saying,’ instead of just jumping, and we do that to each other. So, I think the respect is there.”
Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman – Married on June 25, 2006
Keith and Nicole are one of the most famous couples in the world. The Oscar-winning Nicole often appears on the country music award show red carpet events. Keith also joins his wife at movie premieres and red carpets, including the Academy Awards and many other award shows.
They often post about each other and share love moments on social media when one of them has a birthday or on Valentine’s Day.
In 2017, when Urban released the song, “The Fighter,” the couple sang it together in their car. The YouTube video has eleven million views.
