Dolly Parton is mourning the loss of her husband of almost 59 years. The Country Music Hall of Fame member announces on social media that Carl Dean has passed away.
“Carl Dean, husband of Dolly Parton, passed away March 3rd in Nashville, at the age of 82,” a statement reads on Parton’s social media accounts. “He will be laid to rest in a private ceremony with immediate family. He was surrounded by his siblings Sandra and Donnie.”
“Carl and I spent many wonderful years together,” Parton says. “Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.”
— Dolly Parton (@DollyParton) March 4, 2025
Parton married Dean on May 30, 1966. She has been vocal about her love for Dean, although he preferred to stay out of the spotlight for her legendary career.
“He’s quiet and I’m loud, and we’re funny,” Parton said on Bunnie Xo’s Dumb Blonde podcast (via People). “Oh, he’s hilarious. And I think one of the things that’s made it last so long through the years is that we love each other [and] we respect each other, but we have a lot of fun.”
At the beginning of her career, Parton asked Dean to go with her to an industry event. But they soon learned that their marriage worked best if she went to events without him.
“I begged him to go with me in ‘67,” Parton recalled. “We’d got married in ‘66. So, that’s when I won the first award for the BMI Song of the Year. I rented him a tux and begged him to go, and he did. And, oh, he was so uncomfortable the whole night.”
“He said, ‘Look, now I want you to do everything you want to do, and I wish you the best, but don’t ever ask me to go to another one of these damn things because I ain’t going,” she continued. “And he never did.”
Dean may have not enjoyed going to events with his superstar wife, but Parton loved every part of their lengthy marriage.
“My husband and I have been together for 60 years,” Parton told Closer. “We’ve been married 58 years and we dated for two years. He has a good sense of humor, as do I, and I think that has been a big key to us, because we’ve had a lot of fun, and when things get really bad, we somehow manage to find the humor in it, and that kind of lifts the load. But I think we’re also good friends. We have a lot of respect for each other, and we just take each other as we are.
“We don’t try to change each other and make a big deal out of all the little things that some people do,” she continued. “We just have a great life, and we’re different enough so when we are together, we have things to talk about, because he’s interested in what I do, but that’s not his world, and I’m interested in what he does, but that’s not my world. But together, it’s our world. We make our world work with all the things we do, and we’re just very close.”
Everything Nash extends our deepest condolences to Parton.