Carl Dean, the longtime husband of country music icon Dolly Parton, passed away Monday in Nashville at the age of 82.
According to a statement released by Parton’s publicist to The Associated Press, Dean will be laid to rest in a private ceremony attended by immediate family.
“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 shared in a statement.
The family has requested privacy during this difficult time. No cause of death has been disclosed.
Dean and Parton first met outside the Wishy Washy Laundromat on the day she arrived in Nashville at 18 years old. Reflecting on their first encounter, Parton recalled, “I was surprised and delighted that while he talked to me, he looked at my face (a rare thing for me). He seemed to be genuinely interested in finding out who I was and what I was about.”
The couple wed on May 30, 1966, in an intimate ceremony in Ringgold, Georgia. Dean, a businessman, owned an asphalt-paving company in Nashville. His parents, Virginia “Ginny” Bates Dean and Edgar “Ed” Henry Dean, raised three children. Parton often referred to his mother as “Mama Dean.”
Dean was also the inspiration behind Parton’s hit song Jolene. Speaking to NPR in 2008, Parton shared that the song was based on a flirtatious bank teller who had a crush on Dean. “She got this terrible crush on my husband, and he just loved going to the bank because she paid him so much attention,” Parton said. “It was kind of like a running joke between us.”
Dean is survived by Parton and his siblings, Sandra and Donnie. Throughout their decades-long marriage, Dean and Parton maintained a strong sense of privacy, leading to speculation about his existence. In a 1984 interview with The Associated Press, Parton humorously addressed the rumors, saying, “A lot of people say there’s no Carl Dean, that he’s just somebody I made up to keep other people off me.”
Dean was also a major influence on Parton’s 2023 Rockstar album. “He’s a big rock and roller,” Parton told AP. She included My Blue Tears, one of Dean’s favorite songs she wrote during her time with The Porter Wagoner Show in the late ’60s and early ’70s. She also covered Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd and Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin, two of Dean’s favorite rock classics.
Source: Swifteradio.com
