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Dolly Parton is mourning the loss of her husband of nearly six decades, Carl Dean, who died on Monday (March 3). He was 82.
Parton, 79, confirmed in a statement shared on her social media accounts on Monday evening that Dean passed away in Nashville, Tennessee. The statement shares that Dean “will be laid to rest in a private ceremony with immediate family attending. He was survived by his siblings Sandra and Donnie. …The family has asked for privacy during this difficult time.”
“Carl and I spent many wonderful years together,” Parton said. “Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.”
Parton and Dean got married on May 30, 1966. The beloved country artist recently offered a rare glimpse into her nearly six-decade marriage when she caught up with Bunnie Xo on an episode of Dumb Blonde. Parton said on the podcast — which was titled with inspiration from Parton — that “the last thing” she wanted was a boyfriend when she moved from East Tennessee to Nashville to start her career. However, Parton met Dean on her first day in Music City.
Parton met Dean outside the Wishy Washy Laundromat, per a post on the “I Will Always Love You” singer’s website when she and Dean celebrated 50 years of marriage. Their intimate wedding ceremony was “simple” and “private” in Ringgold, Georgia.
She said that although the pair differed in some ways (Dean’s preference for privacy, for example), they always respected and supported one another. In November 2021, Parton shared a rare throwback photo with Dean on Instagram. She wrote in her caption: “Find you a partner who will support you like my Carl Dean does!”
“I left (East Tennessee with) two boyfriends back home that had wanted to marry me, and I kept saying ‘no, I’m gonna move to Nashville,’” Parton said on the episode of Dumb Blonde, which arrived in early December 2024. “I thought, ‘well, the last thing I want is a boyfriend.’ I’m leaving two boyfriends here, and I kept saying ‘no, I’m going to Nashville.’ So, I got here, and I thought ‘that’s the last thing I’m gonna get caught up with some boy,’ you know, until I get my feet on the ground (and) get things going. And the very day I got to Nashville, I met Carl Dean. And 60 years later, I’m still with Carl Dean. We’ve been together 60 years. We’ve been married 58.
“He’s a good guy. He’s quiet and I’m loud. We’re funny — oh, he’s hilarious — and I think one of the things that’s made it last so long through the years, we love each other. we respect each other. But we have a lot of fun,” Parton said. “Any time things get too, too much tension going on, either one of us can find a joke about it to where it’ll break the tension. …We never fought back and forth. And I’m glad now that we never did because once you start that, that becomes a lifetime thing.”