Tanya Tucker Thinks She’s Found Love at Last: ‘I’m Not Opposed to Marriage’
Tanya Tucker has had a checkered romantic past, but she's not giving up on finding lasting love. The 61-year-old singer has been dating the man of her dreams, and wedding bells could be in their future.
People reports that Tucker has been dating singer-songwriter Craig Dillingham since the summer of 2019, and she believes she's found the stability that has famously eluded her in her past relationships.
"If it ain't him, I'm done," Tucker says.
The singer's romantic life has played out in public over the years, especially a turbulent romance in the '80s with the much-older Glen Campbell. She was engaged to a rodeo rider early in her career, and she was later engaged to producer Jerry Laseter, the father of her daughter, Layla, who's now 20. Tucker also has two children with actor Ben Reed, to whom she was never engaged.
Tucker and Dillingham first met 48 years ago at a radio station in Texas, when they were both 13-year-old newcomers to country music. She went on to stardom, while he has made a career for himself regionally. While Tucker has forgotten their initial meeting, Dillingham never has.
“Craig’s always loved me, always,” Tucker says. “I mean, he’s never not loved me.”
They've been in and out of touch over the decades, and twice tried to turn their friendship into a romance, but it's never quite worked out for them. Lee Ann Womack is close friends with Tucker, and her husband, producer Frank Liddell, is good friends with Dillingham, so she decided to personally intervene in getting the couple together. She invited Dillingham to a show she and Tucker were playing together in July of 2019, and sparks flew.
“She talked him into going, so when he got there, I got off the bus, and he walked up and I went, ahhhh!” Tucker tells People. “And so we’ve been together ever since.”
Tucker says she's even thought about marriage.
“I have nothing against marriage,” she states. “It’s the opposite. I think it’s very sacred, and I don’t want to do it but one time.”
Friends have been teasing the couple about the possibility of marriage, Tucker reveals. “And I mean, I’m pretty sure if I said, ‘Hey, let’s go get married,’ he’d go.”
The experience is that much sweeter because Tucker has someone with whom to enjoy her newfound career resurgence. Her first album in 17 years, While I'm Livin', has garnered stellar reviews, and she is nominated for four awards at the 2020 Grammy Awards, which are set to take place on Sunday (Jan. 26).
“I love being around him,” Tucker says of Dillingham. “And we love doing things together. He adores me, but he also don’t let me slide. I really want him in my life.”
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