Carl Dean, Dolly Parton's devoted husband and the inspiration behind Parton's iconic hit Jolene, passed away Monday. He was 82 years old.
According to a statement provided to the Associated Press by a Parton spokesperson, Dean will die in Nashville, Tennessee and be placed to rest at a personal ceremony attended by immediate family members.
“Kaarl and I have had many wonderful years together. Words cannot do justice to the love we have shared over 60 years. We appreciate your prayers and sympathy,” Parton wrote in a statement.
The family is currently looking for respect and privacy. The cause of death was not announced.
Parton met Dean outside the hopeful Wassey Laundry on the day he moved to Nashville, 18.
“While he spoke to me, he was surprised and pleased to see my face (something unusual for me),” Parton explained about the meeting. “He seemed really interested in knowing who I am and what I was doing.”
They got married two years later, May 30, 1966 – on an anniversary at a small ceremony in Ringgold, Georgia.
Dean, a businessman who owned the asphalt paving business in Nashville, avoided the spotlight despite his wife's fame.
Parton and Dean kept their relationship private for decades, and Parton told the Associated Press in 1984: “Many people say there is no Carl Dean.
She joked that she wanted to pos with him on the cover of the magazine.
Parton's 1973 classic Jolene was inspired by Dean. Parton told NPR in 2008 that he wrote a song about a frivolous banking counter that appears to be interested in Dean.
“She got this terrible crush on my husband,” she said. “And he loved going to the bank because she paid so much attention to him. It was like a joke between us. When I was saying, “Hell, you spend a lot of time in the bank. I don't think we have that kind of money.” So, it's a really innocent song, but it sounds like a scary song. ”
Parton also said Dean was the power behind the 2023 Rockstar album.
“He's a big lock and a roller,” she told the Associated Press. The song My Blue Tears, written when Parton was at the Porter Wagoner Show in the late 1960s and early 70s, is “one of my husband's favorite songs I've ever written.” “Well, I thought it would be better to put one of Carl's favorites here.” She also featured some of his favorites on temporary detours from country music.
Dean's parents, Virginia “Ginny” BatesDean and Edgar “Ed” Henry Dean, had three children. Parton called his mother “Mama Dean.”
Dean is survived by Parton and his two brothers, Sandra and Donnie.
