Dolly Parton has announced the sad death of her husband Carl Dean, who passed away at the age of 82, with the pair having been together for six decades
Dolly Parton lived a very private life with her late husband Carl Dean.
The Jolene singer announced overnight that her husband Carl passed away at the age of 82. In a post on social media, she shared: “Carl Dean, husband of Dolly Parton, passed away March 3rd in Nashville at the age of 82. He will be laid to rest in a private ceremony with immediate family attending. He was survived by his siblings Sandra and Donnie.”
In her own words, she then added: “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 family has asked for privacy during this difficult time.”
Carl and Dolly had a very private marriage and despite her international fame, he was rarely seen in public. The pair actually met when she was a teenager on her first day in Nashville. Outside the Wishy Washy Laundromat was where their love story began.
“I’d come to Nashville with dirty clothes,” she recalled of their first meeting, “I was in such a hurry to get here. And after I’d put my clothes in the machine, I started walkin’ down the street, just lookin’ at my new home, and this guy hollered at me, and I waved. Bein’ from the country, I spoke to everybody. And he came over and, well, it was Carl, my husband.”
The pair tied the knot just two years later in 1966 and had a simple and private ceremony with just the preacher and his wife in attendance, alongside Dolly’s mother Avie Lee. In a very rare interview back in 2016, Carl recalled: “My first thought was ‘I’m gonna marry that girl.’ My second thought was, ‘Lord she’s good looking.’ And that was the day my life began.”
Carl preferred a life out of the spotlight, something which Dolly had always respected.
“He does not want to be in the spotlight at all. It’s just not who he is. He’s like a quiet, reserved person and he figured if he ever got out there in that, he’d never get a minute’s peace and he’s right about that,” she said in 2020.
“I’ve always respected and appreciated that in him, and I’ve always tried to keep him out of the limelight as much as I can. “He said, ‘I didn’t choose this world, I chose you, and you chose that world. But we can keep our lives separate and together.’ And we do.”
Fans will know Carl was the inspiration behind one of Dolly’s biggest songs Jolene. Of the woman she wrote about, Dolly recalled@ “She got this terrible crush on my husband. 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.”
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