Dolly Parton performs during “Dolly: An Original Musical” fireside chat and press conference at The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts on January 28, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
Parton shared the awful news of her longtime spouse’s death via Instagram on Monday, March 3.
“Carl Dean, husband of Dolly Parton, passed away March 3rd in Nashville at the age of 82. He will be laid to rest in a private ceremony with immediate family attending. He is survived by his siblings Sandra and Donnie,” the message read.
“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 family asks for privacy during this difficult time.”
Dolly Parton speaks onstage during Kicking Off CMA Fest: A Special Conversation With Dolly Parton Hosted By Rachel Smith at Music City Center on June 6, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
No cause of death has been announced at this time.
Dean who married Parton in 1966. He will be laid to rest in an intimate gathering attended by immediate family members, according to this same post.
While Dean and Parton clearly had a strong, healthy and loving marriage… the former was known for going out of his way to avoid attending award shows and other public events after accompanying the singer to an event in 1967.
“I rented him a tux and begged him to go, and he did,” Parton recalled on the Dumb Blonde podcast in December. “And oh, he was so uncomfortable the whole night.”
Dolly Parton attends Dolly Parton’s Rockstar VIP Album Release Party with American Greetings on November 16, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for American Greetings)
Parton and Dean met in 1964 at a Wishy Washy Laundromat the same day she moved to town to start her music career.
“I’d come to Nashville with dirty clothes,” Parton told The New York Times way back in 1976.
“I was in such a hurry to get here. And after I’d put my clothes in the machine, I started walkin’ down the street, just lookin’ at my new home, and this guy hollered at me, and I waved. Bein’ from the country, I spoke to everybody. And he came over and, well, it was Carl, my husband.
“I was surprised and delighted that while he talked to me, he looked at my face (a rare thing for me). He seemed to be genuinely interested in finding out who I was and what I was about.”
Dolly Parton speaks on stage at the 53rd Anniversary Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala at Music City Center on October 11, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
As stated above, Dean embraced his privacy.
But Parton would gush about him on occasion, such as during an interview in 2022 with Us Weekly.
“We’re the perfect partners,” she told this magazine at the time.
“We both have a great sense of humor. … We’re able to solve any problem and any situation, making a joke about it and not letting it get too heavy, but we respect each other and we like each other. We lucked up, let’s put it that way.”
Carl Dean is survived by Parton and his two siblings, Sandra and Donnie. May he rest in peace.
