Carl Dean, a longtime husband of Ikone Country Music Dolly Parton, died on Monday at the age of 82.
Dean, who was known private during his almost 60-year marriage to Parton, died in Nashville in Tennessee, according to a statement she published on social media.
“Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words can’t make the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for prayers and sympathy,” the statement said.
The “9-5” singer met Dean in front of the laundry on the first day she arrived in Nashville as an 18-year-old singer.
Parton recalled their first meeting, saying, “I was surprised and delighted that as he talked to me, he looked at my face (rare thing for me). He seemed truly interested in discovering who I was doing.”
Two years later, May 30, 1966, the couple exchanged vows at private ceremony in Ringgold, Georgia.
During his marriage, Dean remained out of the public, deciding instead of focusing on his job asphalt in Nashville.
Although he was largely out of light, Dean continued to influence Parton’s work, mostly inspiring his classic hit “Jolene”.
In 2008, she told us that the song was about the banking salesman who developed Dean.
“She got a terrible infatuation with my husband,” Parton said. “And he simply liked to go to the bank because she paid him so much attention. It was kind of like a joke between us – when I said, ‘Hell, you spend a lot of time at the bank. I don’t believe we have that kind of money. “So it’s really an innocent song all around, but it sounds like awful.”
Parton and Dean’s relationship remained such a mystery that the rumors did not exist – but Parton joked about it.
“Many people say there is no Carla Dean, that he is just someone I invented to keep other people from me,” said Associate Press in 1984.
Parton and Dean did not have children together.
He is survived by brothers and sisters, Sandra and Donnie, according to Parton’s statement.
