The ‘9 to 5’ singer had been married to the asphalt paver and businessman for nearly six decades, with the pair meeting just after an 18-year-old Parton moved to Nashville, Tennessee. The pair would date for two years before going on to tie the knot in 1966 in Ringgold, Georgia.
The statement, shared by the legendary country singer’s team on social media, confirmed that Dean had passed away on 3 March in Nashville and would be laid to rest in a private ceremony. No cause of death has been announced.
Carl Dean would go on to serve as the inspiration for Parton’s hit song ‘Jolene’ (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for SXSW)
“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 singer’s statement, shared via X read.
The family have asked for privacy at this difficult time.
Despite Parton’s huge international fame as the ‘Queen of Country’, winning 11 Grammy Awards and having numerous number one albums, Dean kept a low profile throughout the years. The businessman’s decision to shun the spotlight would even lead to media speculation that Parton had made him up, with the singer telling Associated Press in 1984: “A lot of people say there’s no Carl Dean, that he’s just somebody I made up to keep other people off me.”
Despite Dean’s decision to keep a low profile, Parton did share small details about their relationship over the years, including the fact that they met outside a laundromat on her first day in Nashville as an aspiring country musician.
Reflecting on their first interaction, Parton would later recall how Dean was ‘genuinely interested’ in getting to know her.
“He seemed to be genuinely interested in finding out who I was and what I was about.”
Parton would also reveal that Dean was the inspiration for her hit song ‘Jolene’, after a bank teller had reportedly developed a crush on him.
“She got this terrible crush on my husband,” Parton told US media in 2008 (via BBC).
“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 had no children together, he is survived by his siblings Sandra and Donnie.
