Dolly Parton’s Husband of Nearly 60 Years Passes Away | Entertainment & Arts News
Sadly, Dolly Parton’s husband, whom she wed in a private ceremony at the age of just 20, has passed away.
The official website of the country music icon announced that Carl Dean died on Monday in Nashville.
Parton expressed in a statement: “Carl and I shared countless wonderful years together. Words cannot adequately express the love we experienced for more than 60 years. I appreciate your prayers and condolences.”
Dean was the muse for “Jolene,” one of Parton’s most renowned songs.
She revealed that she penned the track after a flirtatious bank teller appeared to take a liking to him.
“She developed quite the crush on my husband,” Parton shared with NPR in 2008.
“He really enjoyed going to the bank because she gave him so much attention.
“It became somewhat of a running joke between us… So it’s genuinely an innocent song at heart, despite how it sounds.”
Parton, 78, remarked that ‘words can’t do justice to the love we shared’. Photo: AP
The couple first crossed paths outside the Wishy Washy laundromat, where Parton was doing laundry on the day she moved to Nashville at 18.
“I was both surprised and thrilled that he was genuinely looking at my face while he spoke to me (a rarity for me),” Parton reflected in 2016.
“He truly seemed interested in learning about who I was and what I stood for.”
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Parton seen performing at a Dallas Cowboys game in November 2023. Photo: Reuters
Parton mentioned that her record label had advised her to postpone her wedding, but the couple ultimately exchanged vows two years later in May 1966.
Their ceremony was attended by only her mother, the officiating preacher, and his wife, held out of town to prevent local media coverage.
Dean, who ran a paving business, was known for avoiding the spotlight and was seldom seen with Parton in public.
“Many people joke that there’s no Carl Dean—he’s just an imaginary friend I created to keep others at bay,” Parton quipped during a 1984 interview with AP.
Although the couple did not have any children, he is survived by his brother and sister.
