Dolly Parton Recalls Rare Moment When Her Husband Sang On Stage — And She Called Security On Him
Dolly Parton shares the story of a rare moment her late husband, Carl Dean, sang on stage. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
It’s well known that Dolly Parton’s late husband, Carl Dean, valued his privacy. So much so, that he stayed out of the public eye for nearly all of their 59 years of marriage.
But, what many people don’t know is that there was one rare moment when he stepped out of his comfort zone, joining Dolly on stage to sing with her.
Dolly shared the memory during a chat with her friend and fellow country icon Reba McEntire on TalkShopLive. She was there to promote her upcoming hardcover book, Star of the Show: My Life on Stage, which comes out November 11.
Reba brought up the photo of Carl Dean on stage, which is featured in the book. The picture was taken at the Kentucky State Fair and shows Carl sharing a mic with Dolly’s backup singer Richard Dennison.
RELATED: SIX MEANINGFUL SONGS DOLLY PARTON WROTE FOR HER LATE HUSBAND, CARL DEAN
With his arm around Richard, the two joined together to belt out Dolly’s 1977 hit “Higher and Higher.”
And while the performance was no doubt entertaining for the crowd that night, it ended up being the first and only time Carl ever embraced the spotlight.
“No, he never went on the stage again cause I wasn’t gonna let him,” Dolly joked. “That was so out of character for him,” she added.
Dolly Reveals She Had No Idea Carl Was Going To Jump On Stage
It turns out that Dolly wasn’t expecting her husband’s impromptu performance. In fact, at the time, she didn’t even realize he was at the fair.
“When we started the song, I was opening with ‘Higher and Higher.’ That was a song Carl loved. And so when we started the opening song, I thought, ‘Why are the background singers sounding so off key?’” “And then I looked back and there was Carl,” she said. “I didn’t even know he was at the fair ’cause he had just drove up on his own.”
The 11-time Grammy winner shared that once she witnessed Carl’s prank, she instantly wanted to get him back. She even called security to come and escort him off stage.
“I leaned down and I said, ‘That guy back there… I don’t know who he is. Get him offstage.’”
Dolly admitted she thought it would be hilarious if Carl got hauled off to jail so she would have to bail him out after the show.
Luckily for Carl, Dolly’s road manager stepped in before security could reach him.
Watch Dolly talk about Carl Dean’s “out of character” moment in the video below. You can see the rare photo starting at the 17-minute mark.
