Country music legend Dolly Parton’s ultra-private and long-time husband of nearly 60 years, Carl Dean, is dead. News of his death came to light after the singer posted on her social media platform a heartfelt messages to her “family, friends and fans.”
The public announcement came days after his death.
According to the singer, Dean died on March 3 in Nashville, Tennessee, where the couple met, married and lived since then.
The message which ended with one of her signature hit songs said to have been inspired by her husband, I Will Always Love You, was signed off with a simple, “Dolly” and reads as follows:
“This is a love note to family, friends and fans. Thank you for all the messages, cards and flowers that you’ve sent to pay your respects for the loss of my beloved husband Carl. I can’t reach out personally to each of you but just know it has meant the world to me. He is in God’s arms now and I am okay with that. I will always love you.”
In one of her many documentaries, Dolly often stated that she and Carl Dean met in 1964 outside a laundromat, on her first day in Nashville. She was 18 years old and he was 21. Two years later in 1966, the couple were married.
The 79-year old country singer also credits her husband, Dean, as the inspiration for her first hit single and breakout song, Jolene, which became a 1973 classic.
Over the decades, the couple kept and maintained a very strict privacy around their relationship.
Carl Dean was 82 years old and survived by two siblings. He was laid to rest in a private ceremony in Nashville attended only by immediate family members.
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