Dolly Parton has released a heartfelt statement following the passing of her husband, Carl Dean, to whom she was married for nearly 60 years.
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On Monday, the 79-year-old country music legend took to Instagram to confirm Dean’s passing.
“Carl and I spent many wonderful years together,” Parton wrote. “Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.”
The post also stated that Dean passed on March 3 in Nashville and that a private funeral would be held for immediate family. The statement concluded with a request for privacy for the family as they mourn Dean’s passing.
A cause of death was not revealed. Dean was 82.
Carl Dean Helped Inspire One of Dolly Parton’s Most Iconic Hits… and a Recent Album
Parton married Dean, a Nashville businessman, in 1966 after meeting him two years earlier when she was just 18. Since then, the couple has largely kept their relationship private. One of Parton’s most iconic songs, “Jolene,” released in 1973, was inspired by a woman who once flirted with her husband.
“She got this terrible crush on my husband,” Parton told NPR back in 2008 about the origins of the tune. “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.”
Dean also influenced a Parton’s recent rock album.
In 2023, Parton told AP Dean helped inspire her 2023 Rockstar album.
“He’s a big rock and roller,” she told the AP in 2023. The song “My Blue Tears,” which was penned when Parton was part of The Porter Wagoner Show in the late 1960s and early ’70s, is “one of my husband’s favorite songs that I ever wrote,” she explained. “I thought, ’Well, I better put one of Carl’s favorites of mine in here.”
She also recorded a few of Dean’s favorite rock songs for the album, including Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” and Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven.”
Dean is survived by his wife, Parton, and his siblings, Sandra and Donnie.