DOLLY Parton’s husband Carl Dean has died aged 82.
The country icon confirmed the news through a heartbreaking tribute, after nearly 60 years of marriage.
6
Dolly Parton’s husband Carl Dean has died aged 82
6
The couple were married for 60 years
6
Dolly shared a heartbreaking tribute to her late husband on Instagram
6
Carl Dean pictured in 2019Credit: Goff
Dolly, 79, revealed her husband Carl – who was last seen in public in 2019 – died on Monday in Nashville.
The family will hold a private ceremony for him.
She shared a heartbreaking tribute to her late partner on Instagram, saying: “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.”
Dolly did not reveal her husband’s cause of death but had previously been diagnosed with alzheimer’s disease in 2019.
Dean is survived by his siblings, Sandra and Donnie.
The music legend dedicated some of her most famous songs to her beloved husband.
Dolly even wrote the hit I Will Always Love You and her 2012 song From Here To The Moon And Back about Carl.
LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT
Their relationship was said to have begun with love at first sight when they met outside a laundromat in Nashville, which Dean wrote on Dolly’s official website about the then 18-year-old singer.
Dolly Parton’s husband Carl Dean dies aged 82 after 60 years of marriage as icon pays heartbreaking tribute
He said: “My first thought was I’m gonna marry that girl.”
“My second thought was, ‘Lord she’s good lookin.’ And that was the day my life began.”
Dolly and Carl tied the knot on May 30, 1966.
The couple would have celebrated their 59th anniversary on May 30.
Carl Dean’s love for wife Dolly
ALTHOUGH Carl Dean didn’t appear in the public eye throughout his long marriage to Dolly Parton – this in no way diminished his love for her.
In fact, Carl didn’t want to be around anybody but Dolly, according to an interview the singer did a while back.
Speaking to People around the time of their 50th anniversary in 2016, Dolly explained how he “doesn’t particularly care about being around anybody but me”.
She said: “He’s just always asked me to leave him out of all this. He does not like all the hullabaloo.”
The hitmaker also shared with Parade that her man was “very secure within himself”.
She told the outlet: “This is his statement: ‘Well, hell, I know it’s not easy out there. I’d feel less about any man that didn’t fall in love with you’.”
And in 2020 she revealed how he didn’t want to be in the spotlight “at all”.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, she said: “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.
“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 [Carl] 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 and we have.”
60-YEAR-LONG UNION
They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2016 by renewing their vows.
At the time Dolly told Entertainment Tonight: “If I had it to do all over, I’d do it all over again, and we did.”
Carl and Dolly didn’t have children, with the famous country star revealing why in a previous chat.
Dolly previously told Oprah Winfrey that not having children allowed her to work harder throughout her career.
Carl Dean was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, on July 20, 1942.
He was a private person who rarely entered the media spotlight or made public appearances with Dolly.
Carl owned a successful asphalt laying company in Nashville.
6
The couple had been married since 1966Credit: Splash News
6
Carl rarely made public appearances with Dolly
