Dolly Parton photo courtesy of Dolly Records.
January 16, 2008 — Dolly Parton has been married to Carl Dean for 41 years, but he was not the first man who turned her head. That distinction apparently belongs to the late Johnny Cash.
"He was gorgeous," she told the British newspaper The Daily Express. "Didn't you just love him? I loved him. He was my first crush. He was the first time I ever knew what sex appeal was."
Dolly confessed her infatuation to Johnny later when both of them had become stars, though she got a mixed reaction in the Cash household.
"He thought I was cute," Dolly bubbled. "June [his wife] didn't particularly care for it!"
There's a bit of irony in that unrequited attraction. Dolly was once the target of Merle Haggard's amorous affections. She was able to diffuse the situation, but Merle wrote a song about it that went all the way to No. 1: "Always Wanting You."
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