Dolly Parton announces the death of her husband Carl Dean

Carl Dean, longtime husband of country music icon Dolly Parton, died on Monday at the age of 82.

Dean, who was famously private throughout his nearly 60-year marriage to Parton, died in Nashville, Tennessee, according to a statement she posted on social media.

"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," the statement read.

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— Dolly Parton (@DollyParton) March 4, 2025

The family, who requested privacy, did not specify a cause of death. Dean is survived by Parton, as well as siblings Sandra and Donnie.

Dean, the owner of an asphalt paving business in Nashville, Tennessee, was also the inspiration for Parton's hit song 'Jolene'.

"She got this terrible crush on my husband," Parton told the US public radio organisation 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 - when I was saying, 'Hell, you're spending a lot of time at the bank. I don't believe we've got that kind of money'. So it's really an innocent song all around but sounds like a dreadful one."

Parton and Dean met outside a laundromat in 1964 when she first moved to Nashville at 18. They married two years later at a small ceremony in Ringgold, Georgia. The pair renewed their vows on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary.

In an interview with Hot Press in 2002, Parton spoke candidly about her marriage with Dean, touching on their decision to not have children while also sharing the secrets of their enduring relationship.

"We never had children of our own but we raised five of my younger brothers and sisters that lived with us, we sent them to school and all that," Parton told Hot Press' Olaf Tyaransen.

When asked how their marriage has lasted amidst Parton's celebrity, she responded: "I think part of it is because we’re not together all the time – I travel a lot. Another reason is because we’re not in the same business, and he doesn’t try and meddle in what I do.

"He was in asphalt paving for a long time and now he buys property and cleans it off. He’s a heavy equipment kind of guy and he just kinda does his own thing. But we’re good friends and he’s secure in who he is, I’m secure in who I am, and we just have enough stuff that we enjoy that we have in common that makes it great, and enough stuff that’s not in common to make it interesting...He’s been kinder to me than all the other men.”