Dolly Parton’s Georgia ties included a secret wedding in Ringgold

Dolly Parton, known as the queen of country music, died Tuesday. She was 80. Her nephew Bryan Seaver announced the news in a video posted on the singer’s Instagram account Tuesday afternoon. A cause of death was not shared.

“Sadness lies with us, but not with Dolly,” Seaver said in the video.

Though Parton’s giant country music legacy is connected to her Tennessee roots, Georgia also played a small role in her personal and professional life. On May 30, 1966, she married her husband Carl Dean at a church in Ringgold, Georgia. The city, with a population of roughly 3,400, lies in Catoosa County in northwest Georgia, about an hour-and-a-half drive from Atlanta.

The couple chose the Georgia town for their nuptials because Dolly feared the wedding announcement would hinder her career. Parton and Dean were married for nearly 60 years, until Dean’s passing last year. They would often revisit Ringgold to commemorate their anniversary.

Ringgold has been known for decades as “The Wedding Capital of the South” because of the ease with which the city facilitates marriages.

Parton’s death comes months after the legendary musician canceled a Las Vegas residency, rescheduled for September, revealing issues with her kidney stones.

Throughout her 60-year career, Parton became an indomitable force in country music, helping bring the genre to mainstream dominance. Her music has sold over 100 million copies worldwide, earning 11 Grammy Awards. She also starred in several movies, including the hit 1980 film “9 to 5.”

“Dolly has lived in the light and is the arms of Jesus surely met by Carl, her parents and countless others who have watched her and longed for her to meet them in the heavens,” Seaver said in the video.