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Dolly Parton offered an emotional tribute to her late husband Carl Thomas Dean, who died earlier this week.
The legendary country artist released a new song, entitled, if you weren’t there, in an Instagram post on Friday.
“I fell in love with Carl Dean when I was 18,” Parton writes. “We have spent 60 precious and meaningful years together. Like all great love stories, they never end. They live in memory and song. He will always be the star of my life history and I dedicate this song to him.”
The couple had been together for six decades before died Monday at 82 years.
Her voice trembles as she sings the new song “If you weren’t there / where would I be? / Without your trust, love and faith. ”
“You made me drie / more than I dared,” she continues. “And I wouldn’t be more hea / if you weren’t there.”
The cover of the track includes an old photo showing Parton with hands wrapped around Dean.
The 79 -year -old Parton expressed her gratitude for the support of the fans after her husband’s death.
“It’s a love note for family, friends and fans,” she wrote on Instagram on Thursday. “Thank you for all the messages, cards and flowers that you have sent to give your respect for the loss of my beloved husband Carl. I cannot contact each of you personally, but I just know that it means that the world is for me. He is in God’s arms now and I am well with it. I will always love you.”
The singer, known for songs like 9-5 and Jolen, met Dean in front of the laundry day when she arrived in Nashville as an 18-year-old ambitious singer.
“I was surprised and delighted that as he spoke to me, he looked at my face (rarely something for me),” Parton said when he recalled their first date.
“He seemed really interested in finding out who I was and what I was doing.”
Two years later, in 1966, the couple married.
They lived a personal life – Dean was rarely seen in public – and there were no children together.