Dolly Parton dedicates new song to late husband of nearly six decades

'Like all great love stories, they never end. They live in memory and in song, and I dedicate this to him. If You Hadn’t Been There.'

Dolly Parton thanked fans for reaching out to her after her husband’s death. File picture: Yui Mok/PA

Dolly Parton has dedicated her new song If You Hadn’t Been There to her husband, Carl Dean, who died earlier this week aged 82.

The couple spent nearly six decades married, with businessman Dean largely remaining out of the spotlight as Parton became a two-time Oscar nominee and 10-time Grammy winner as well as one of the biggest-selling US musicians.