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March 7 (UPI) -- Dolly Parton has released a touching tribute to late husband Carl Thomas Dean. The country music star released "If You Hadn't Been There," a song dedicated to Dean and the six decades the couple shared together, Friday.
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"I wouldn't be here if you hadn't been there," she sings. "Holding my hand, showing you care. You made me dream more than I dared, and I wouldn't be here if you hadn't been there."
Parton, 79, announced Monday that Dean had died at age 82.
She announced the song in an Instagram post Friday that quickly accumulated thousands of comments.
"I'm so sorry for your loss," wrote Angela Kinsey. "Sending my love to you and your family. Love you Dolly."
Katie Couric, Lainey Wilson and Khloe Kardashian and other celebrities also left messages on that post.
"I fell in love with Carl Dean when I was 18 years old," Parton wrote. "We have spent 60 precious and meaningful years together. Like all great love stories, they never end. They live on in memory and song. He will always be the star of my life story, and I dedicate this song to him."
In 2016, Dean confided that he immediately knew he'd marry Parton upon meeting her in 1964.
"And that was the day my life began," he said in an interview. "I wouldn't trade the last 50 years for nothing on this earth."
