Dolly Parton's husband of nearly 60 years, Carl Dean, passed away on Monday at the age of 82. Dean was a private individual who rarely appeared in the public eye, and he served as the inspiration for Parton's classic song, "Jolene." His passing marks the end of a long and loving partnership.
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03-04, 2025According to a statement provided to the Associated Press by Parton's publicist, Dean died in Nashville, Tennessee. The funeral will be held privately, with only immediate family members in attendance. Parton wrote in the statement: "Carl and I have had many wonderful years together. There are not enough words to express the love we had for each other throughout our 60 years together. Thank you for your prayers and condolences." The family respectfully requests privacy during this difficult time, seeking solace in their shared memories.
The official cause of Dean's death has not been released. Parton met Dean outside the Wishy Washy Laundromat on the day she moved to Nashville at the age of 18. Parton recalled: "I was surprised and pleased that he spoke to me, and he looked at my face when he was talking to me (something that was rare for me). He seemed genuinely interested in who I was and what I was about." Two years later, they held a small ceremony in Ringgold, Georgia, and were married on Memorial Day (May 30) in 1966.
Dean was a businessman who owned an asphalt paving company in Nashville. His parents were Virginia "Ginny" Bates Dean and Edgar "Ed" Henry Dean, and they had three children. Parton referred to his mother as "Mama Dean." Dean is survived by Parton, as well as his two siblings, Sandra and Donnie.
Dean was the inspiration for Parton's classic song "Jolene." Parton said in a 2008 NPR interview that she wrote the song because a flirtatious bank teller seemed very interested in Dean. "She got this terrible crush on my husband," she said. "He was spending more time at the bank than we had money. It was kinda like a running joke between us—I was saying, 'Hell, you're spending a lot of time at the bank. I don't believe we've got that much money.' So that's actually a true story, that song. It's a funny thing."
For decades, Parton and Dean maintained strict privacy regarding their relationship. Parton told the Associated Press in 1984: "A lot of people have said that Carl Dean is not real, that he's just something I've made up to keep other men away from me." She joked that she wanted to be on a magazine cover with him "so people would at least know I hadn't married a wart or something." This commitment to privacy allowed them to nurture a deep and personal connection away from the spotlight.
In 2023, Parton told the Associated Press that Dean helped inspire her 2023 album, "Rockstar." "He's a big rock 'n' roll fan," she said. The song "My Blue Tears," which Parton wrote in the late 1960s and early 1970s while working with "The Porter Wagoner Show," "is one of my husband's very favorite songs that I've ever written," she said. "I thought, 'Well, I'm gonna have to put one of Carl's favorites of mine on there.'" She also covered some of his favorite songs on this temporary departure from country music: Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" and Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven," demonstrating the depth of their shared musical appreciation.
