Carl Dean, Dolly Parton’s husband and love of more than 60 years, has died.
Parton made the announcement with a statement on her website and social media Monday.
“Carl Dean, husband of Dolly Parton, passed away March 3rd in Nashville at the age of 82,” the statement said.
“He will be laid to rest in a private ceremony with immediate family attending.”
“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. The family has asked for privacy during this difficult time.”
Parton, 79, and Dean met in 1964 in Nashville, when she was 18 and he was 21, per her website.
Their first exchange was outside the Wishy Washy laundromat.
Carl Dean and Dolly Parton married in 1966. He was 23 and she was 20.Dolly Parton via DollyParton.com
“I was surprised and delighted that while he talked to me, he looked at my face (a rare thing for me),” Parton said. “He seemed to be genuinely interested in finding out who I was and what I was about.”
She married Dean, a native of Nashville, on Memorial Day 1966 in Ringgold, Georgia when she was 20 and he was 23.
It was a small affair. The only people in attendance were Parton’s mother, Avie Lee Parton, and the preacher and his wife.
Parton expressed her love for Dean in the song “From Here to the Moon and Back”:
“From here to the moon and back / Who else in the world will love you like that?” she sings.
“Love everlasting, I promise you that / From here to the moon and back.”
Parton recorded the song with Kris Kristofferson and Jeremy Jordan for the soundtrack to the movie “Joyful Noise” (2012) and with Willie Nelson (listen below) for her 2014 album “Blue Smoke.”
As Parton’s star rose in country music, Dean shied away from public life and preferred to maintain his privacy.
“They say that opposites attract, and it’s true,” Parton told People magazine in 2015. “We’re completely opposite, but that’s what makes it fun. I never know what he’s gonna say or do. He’s always surprising me. My husband is a good man, first of all. He’s a deep person, but he has a great and warped sense of humor. He makes me laugh and entertains me. He’s very secure within himself.”
Dean may not have been a regular on red carpets and public events, but they enjoyed their private time together — the “simple life,” Parton said.
“We like to get out in our little RV and just be simple,” she said in the same interview. “I love to read, I love to cook, I love to be with my husband. I put on my little comfy clothes – I call them my baby clothes – and we just relax … He wants to be mostly around the house. He knows I’m just the opposite. I can’t go enough places. I can’t do enough things. He loves that. He’s independent. He doesn’t need me in his face, and it’s the same with me.”
Dean is survived by his siblings Sandra and Donnie, Parton said.
Thank you for reading. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.
Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at [email protected] and followed at @AmyKup on Twitter/X, @amykup.bsky.social on Bluesky and @kupamy on Instagram and Threads.
