LOS ANGELES, March 4 — Carl Dean, Dolly Parton’s husband of nearly 60 years, passed away on Monday at the age of 82 in Nashville, Tennessee.
According to The Associated Press, he will be buried in a private ceremony later.
“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,” Parton wrote in a statement.
Dean, who kept a private life away from the limelight, was a businessman who owned an asphalt-paving company in Nashville and is survived by Parton and his two siblings.
The couple met when Parton was 18, outside a laundromat in Nashville, where Dean’s genuine interest in her sparked their long-lasting relationship.
They married in 1966 in a small ceremony in Ringgold, Georgia, and maintained a private life for decades, despite Parton’s fame.
Dean, who inspired Parton’s iconic song “Jolene,” also had a lasting influence on her music, including inspiring tracks on her 2023 “Rockstar” album.
