Carl Dean, the longtime husband of country music legend Dolly Parton, passed away on Monday, March 3, 2025, at the age of 82.
Dean, known for his private nature throughout his nearly six-decade marriage to Parton, died in Nashville, Tennessee, according to a statement the singer shared 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,” Parton wrote.
Dean first met Parton outside a laundromat on her first day in Nashville as an 18-year-old aspiring singer.
Recalling their first encounter, Parton said, “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.”
The couple married two years later on May 30, 1966, in a private ceremony in Ringgold, Georgia.
Despite Parton’s global fame, Dean remained out of the spotlight, focusing on his asphalt-paving business in Nashville.
The couple had no children. Dean is survived by his siblings, Sandra and Donnie.
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