Dolly Parton's husband, Carl Thomas Dean, has died at the age of 82. The 79-year-old country music legend shared the news on Monday, announcing the loss of her reclusive husband after almost six decades of marriage. The Jolene singer shared in a statement on Instagram that Carl died in Nashville on March 3.
"Carl Dean, husband of Dolly Parton, passed away March 3rd in Nashville at the age of 82. He will be laid to rest in a private ceremony with immediate family attending. He is survived by his siblings Sandra and Donnie," the post stated. The "I Will Always Love You" singer shared a personal message of her own.
60 Years of Togetherness
"Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words can't do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy," her message read. "The family asks for privacy during this difficult time."
Dean's cause of death has not been revealed yet. Carl is survived by his brother, Donnie, and sister, Sandra. A private service with only close family members will be held for his burial.
Born in Nashville in 1942 to Virginia "Ginny" Bates Dean and Edgar "Ed" Henry Dean, little is known about Dean's early years before his life with Parton.
The "9 to 5" singer first met her future husband at a Wishy Washy Laundromat when she was 18.
"I was surprised and delighted that while he talked to me, he looked at my face (a rare thing for me)," Parton shared about their meet. "He seemed to be genuinely interested in finding out who I was and what I was about."
The couple exchanged vows two years later, on May 30, 1966, in Ringgold, Georgia.
Parton kept her marriage to Dean—who ran an asphalt-paving business—mostly private, rarely speaking about their relationship publicly. However, over the years, she occasionally shared small glimpses into their life together.
"I'd come to Nashville with dirty clothes," Patron told The New York Times in 1976 about the first time she met Dean.
"I was in such a hurry to get here. And after I'd put my clothes in the machine, I started walkin' down the street, just lookin' at my new home, and this guy hollered at me, and I waved. Bein' from the country, I spoke to everybody. And he came over and, well, it was Carl, my husband."
However, Parton didn't make it easy for him.
Keeping Everything Very Private
"I wouldn't go out with him. I mean, that was somethin' we was taught. You gotta know somebody or they may take you on a back road and kill you. But I said, 'You're welcome to come up to the house tomorrow because I'm babysittin' my little nephew,'" the Grammy winner shared of their courtship. "Dean came over every day that week, and the first time they went out together, he took her to meet his parents."
She once joked that many people doubted his existence since he avoided the public spotlight.
"A lot of people say there's no Carl Dean, that he's just somebody I made up to keep other people off me," she told the Associated Press in 1984.
Dean rarely made any public comments but once gave an interview to Entertainment Tonight, telling the outlet in 2016, "My first thought was 'I'm gonna marry that girl.' My second thought was, 'Lord she's good lookin.'" And that was the day my life began. I wouldn't trade the last 50 years for nothing on this earth."
Although Dean preferred to stay out of the public eye, he served as the inspiration for one of Parton's most cherished songs, Jolene. The country star explained the story behind the song, clarifying that the "real" Jolene wasn't trying to steal her husband but was simply flirtatious with him at the bank.
"She got this terrible crush on my husband," Parton told NPR in 2008. "And he just loved going to the bank because she paid him so much attention. It was kinda like a running joke between us — when I was saying, 'Hell, you're spending a lot of time at the bank. I don't believe we've got that kind of money.' So it's really an innocent song all around, but sounds like a dreadful one."
Parton and Dean never had any children.
