Dolly Parton Shares The Secret To Her 56-Year Marriage

When Dolly Parton said "I Do" to her husband, Carl Dean, 56 years ago – she meant it.

Parton's marriage to Dean has long been a hot topic of conversation, and she recently told a Canadian news outlet that she enjoyed it when people asked her how they made it work.

"I like it when people say, 'How did it last so long?' I say, 'I stay going,'" Parton told ET Canada's, Morgan Hoffman. "You know, there's a lot to be said about that. So we're not in each other's face all the time. He's not in the business, so we have different interests, but yet we have the things we love to do together. So it was meant to be, I think. He was the one I was supposed to have and vice versa."

Parton and Dean met outside of the Wishy Washy laundromat in Nashville in 1964. They got married in 1966.

She said she thinks humor is the key to making a relationship last.

"We both have a warped sense of humor," she said. "And I think humor, honestly, is one of the best things when you're married like that. Even if you have a problem if you have a great sense of humor, if you say something you can't take back (you) usually have some crazy way of getting out of it."

Parton said that even though the couple has been together for more than five decades, they've never been in a disagreement so severe that they had to apologize to each other for their behavior.

"We've never had, you know, serious arguments to say bad things to each other we have to take back," Parton said.

Even though Dean doesn't work in the music business, she said he supports her music. He's particularly interested in her new rock album, spurred by her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It's set to be an album packed with collaborations, but she said she doesn't know who they all are yet.

"He loves all of the songs," she said of Dean's thoughts on her new album. "And I haven't told him yet who I'm going to have on. I don't even know myself who all is going to be on it. But he'll love it. I'm doing so many of his favorite songs on the album, so I'll play it to him when it's all done."