Carl Dean, Dolly Parton’s reclusive husband, passes away at 82
Dolly Parton has announced the death of her reclusive husband, Carl Dean, after nearly 60 years of marriage.
Parton, 79, announced on Instagram that her husband died on Monday, March 3, in Nashville.
The country star said in the announcement: ‘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.’
It was added that Dean will be laid to rest in a private ceremony and is survived by his siblings Donnie and Sandra – with the family asking for privacy at this time.
Parton and Dean met 61 years ago in 1964 outside the Wishy Washy launderette in Nashville, on the very day that the music icon moved to Tennessee. They became inseparable and travelled to Georgia two years later, to become husband and wife.
‘I was surprised and delighted that while he talked to me, he looked at my face (a rare thing for me),’ she wrote on her website in a loving post to mark their 50th anniversary nine years ago in 2016.
‘He seemed to be genuinely interested in finding out who I was and what I was about.’
The couple never had any children during their relationship, which spanned over six decades.
The couple met outside a laundrette (Picture: DollyParton.com)
The couple kept their relationship out of the spotlight and were only occasionally seen together in public. Despite the privacy surrounding the couple, Parton did speak about her enduring relationship with Dean many times throughout her career.
‘I like it when people say, “How did it last so long?” I say, “I stay going,”’ she said. ‘There’s a lot to be said about that.
‘So we’re not in each other’s face all the time. He’s not in the business, so we have different interests, but yet we have the things we love to do together. So it was meant to be, I think. He was the one I was supposed to have and vice versa,’ she told ET Canada.
The couple was married for 59 years – tying the knot in 1966 (Picture: Amanda Savinon)
‘We both have a warped sense of humor. And I think humor, honestly, is one of the best things when you’re married like that. Even if you have a problem, if you have a great sense of humor, if you say something you can’t take back [you] usually have some crazy way of getting out of it.’
‘We’ve never had, you know, serious arguments to say bad things to each other we have to take back.’
‘He loves all of the songs,’ she said, speaking about his support for his career.
‘And I haven’t told him yet who I’m going to have on. I don’t even know myself, who all is going to be on it. But he’ll love it. I’m doing so many of his favourite songs on the album, so I’ll play it to him when it’s all done.’
The singer spoke about her relationship with her husband (Picture: AP)
Rare images from Parton showed how close the pair was (Picture: Dolly Parton/Instagram )
The singer previously revealed her husband inspired her song Jolene after a bank clerk seemed a little too flirty with him.
‘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… So it’s really an innocent song all around, but sounds like a dreadful one.’
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