Dolly Parton's husband, Carl Dean, dead at 82: 'Words can't do justice'
Carl Thomas Dean, husband of country music icon Dolly Parton, has died. He was 82.
Parton shared the news on Monday in a statement posted on her official social media channels. "Carl and I spent many wonderful years together," she wrote. "Words can't do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy." The couple married in 1966 and had no children.
A cause of death was not disclosed, although the post noted Dean died in Nashville, Tennessee, where the couple resided. USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for Parton for comment.
Dean was a private man — so private that many have long wondered if he actually existed. He rarely walked a red carpet, made an appearance at a premiere or attended a show business function. But he did exist, and the deep love and respect he showed his wife was instrumental to Parton's perseverance and success throughout her career, Parton told Knox News, part of the USA TODAY Network, in 2024.
"There's always that safety, that security, that strength," she said of being with Dean. "He's a good man, and we've had a good life and he's been a good husband."
According to Parton's social media post Monday, Dean will be laid to rest in a private ceremony attended by immediate family.
Dean never wanted to be in the spotlight. One night at an awards show in 1966 was enough to convince him that the glitz and glam was not the scene for him. After the event, Dean told his new wife, "I love you, and I will support you in your career any way I can, but I am not going to any more of these wingdings," Parton revealed in her 1994 autobiography "Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business."
From then on, he stayed in the shadows to focus on his real estate dealings and tended to the couple's Nashville ranch, all while shooing away pesky reporters.
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A post shared by Dolly Parton (@dollyparton)
"He never wanted to be part of any of that, never did interviews. (He) would just run like a scalded dog. If somebody said, 'Are you Carl Dean? Can you answer a few questions?' 'No, I don't answer questions,'" Parton told Knox News while imitating Dean.
'Y'all are adorable': Dolly Parton posts rare photo with husband Carl Dean, fans react
But Parton shared glimpses of her mysterious husband and their marriage throughout her career, in interviews, on social media and in her music.
"Jolene," one of Parton's signature songs, is partly based on a bank teller who flirted with Dean, according to Biography.com.
She wrote "Just Because I'm a Woman" after Dean expressed disappointment she'd been with other men before they married. Dean is featured on the cover of her 1969 album "My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy." He also was the inspiration behind other songs, including "From Here to the Moon and Back," "Forever Love," "Say Forever You'll Be Mine" and "Tomorrow is Forever."
An 18-year-old Parton met Dean in 1964 on the very first day she moved to Nashville, eager to start a career in country music. She was leaving the Wishy Washy Laundromat when 21-year-old Dean waved and spoke to her. Their love story began.
"My first thought was 'I'm gonna marry that girl.' My second thought was, 'Lord she's good lookin,'" Dean recalled in 2016 after the couple renewed their vows for their 50th wedding anniversary. "And that was the day my life began. I wouldn't trade the last 50 years for nothing on this earth."
"If I had it to do all over, I'd do it all over again," Parton wrote in a statement for their 50th anniversary.
Dolly Parton's secret to long marriage: 'We're not in each other's faces all the time'
In an October 2020 interview with Entertainment Tonight, Parton revealed that distance makes the heart grow fonder when it came to her decadeslong romance with Dean.
"Because I stay gone," she said jokingly. "And there's a lot of truth in that — the fact that we're not in each other's faces all the time."
Contributing: Amy Haneline, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Carl Dean, Dolly Parton's husband of 60 years, dies at 82
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