Dolly Parton’s husband and the inspiration for ‘Jolene,’ Carl Dean, passed away Monday at 82.
“Carl Dean, husband of Dolly Parton, passed away March 3rd in Nashville at the age of 82,” the official statement said. “He will be laid to rest in a private ceremony with immediate family attending.”
The statement concluded, “He is survived by his siblings Sandra and Donnie. The family asks for privacy during this difficult time.”
“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,” Parton said in a statement.
— Dolly Parton (@DollyParton) March 4, 2025
No cause of death has been given yet. Dolly Parton met Carl Dean at 18 outside a laundromat when she moved to Nashville. They married two years later, on May 30, 1966, in a small ceremony in Ringgold, Georgia.
Dean, a businessman, owned an asphalt-paving business in Nashville but stayed out of the spotlight despite his wife’s fame. Last year, Parton talked to Bunnie Xo for Country Living and shared details about her relationship with Dean.
“He’s a good guy. He’s quiet, and I’m loud, and we’re funny,” the singer said at the time. “Oh, he’s hilarious. And I think one of the things that’s made it last so long through the years is that we love each other, we respect each other, but we have a lot of fun.”
“Anytime things get too much tension going on, either one of us find a joke about it,” Parton further revealed.
She also explained why he didn’t make public appearances with her, which goes back to 1967. When asked to attend the 1967 BMI Awards, Dean told her, “‘Look, I want you to do anything you want to do, but never ask me to go to another one of things again.’ And he never did.”
Parton’s 1973 hit ‘Jolene’ was inspired by Dean. She told NPR in 2008 that she wrote it about a flirty bank teller who seemed interested in him. Parton also said Dean helped inspire her 2023 ‘Rockstar’ album.
Dean’s parents, Virginia ‘Ginny’ Bates Dean and Edgar ‘Ed’ Henry Dean, had three children. Dean is survived by Parton and his siblings, Sandra and Donnie.
