Dolly Parton reveals the key to her 50-year marriage
By: Chelsea Huang
Dolly Parton is celebrating six decades in the business the only way she knows how: with her 43rd solo album.
The singer, who turned 70 this year, released a stripped-down collection of love songs, titled "Pure & Simple," on Friday -- and it just happens to coincide with her 50th anniversary with husband Carl Dean, which she celebrated in June.
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In addition to new songs Parton wrote herself, the self-produced album features two tunes from her past, including her 1975 country ballad, "Say Forever You'll Be Mine."
"Darling, I won't promise you that we'll be happy all the time, but forever I am yours, say forever you'll be mine," she croons.
The lyrics, which she wrote when she first married, still ring true for her and Dean today.
"It was early on in our relationship, so that was the song that I thought summed it up -- and it lasted all these years," she said in an exclusive interview with AOL. "We made an agreement right up front that our fights, our arguments -- that we'd try to work them out. And we knew that it wasn't going to be perfect all the time. It never is with anybody."
It's the refreshing, realistic idea and mindset that marriage is a union and a partnership that has led to the longevity of her relationship. While Parton says she never doles out advice, she did dish what she thinks is the key to her 50-year marriage.
"It's mutual respect -- and having things in common, that's always good, too," she said. "Carl and I always had lots of things in common enough to make it fun, our personal time, but enough different in what we do where it's interesting to hear about what the other is involved in.
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In addition to touching songs about her own experience, Parton drew from the love lives of her close friends and family, who she knows "can't express for themselves."
"I'm Sixteen," one of Parton's favorite new songs from the album, is inspired by one of her sisters, who "had a couple of bad marriages."
"She just picked a couple of bad guys, so she was so heartbroken and thought she'd never love again -- And then all of a sudden, she met someone who had been through a similar thing and they are so happy like two little teenagers. My other sisters and I laugh because they're acting like they're 16," she said.
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"I'm Sixteen" might even describe Parton herself, whose tenacity and motivation show no signs of slowing down at age 70.
"I just love what I do," she explained. "It was always the art to me. I love being creative. I love writing the songs. I love singing them, I love to perform, and I love people. I'm a very energetic person. I need to have something wonderful and creative to channel my energy. The creativity is what keeps me young and what keeps me good at it, and what keeps me motivated."
As for her longevity in Nashville and beyond, Parton chalks it up to her "Southern being," her spirituality and her down-home nature.
"Well, I think just being always continuously on the job. I never really thought of myself as a star. I always think of myself as a working girl. It's a way of life for me. I just really love what I do. And I think just the fact that I kept my mind on my business and never strayed. I always know what it is I can and can't do, and what I will and won't do.
Despite holding scores of country music chart records, countless music awards and having been inducted into every Hall of Fame imaginable, Parton still has a few major milestones she'd like to get under her belt.
"I want to make great movies. I'd like to do more movies. I'd still love to do my life story as a Broadway musical, and I want to do some TV. I might even tape a series next year. I just want to continue to keep the dreams that are in motion and keep them alive. It's a lot of work but I love it. I never know what I'm going to be making tomorrow," she said.
