Remembering Carl Dean: Dolly Parton’s Love Story
Carl Dean, longtime husband of country music superstar Dolly Parton and inspiration for her hit “Jolene,” has died. Dean, who generally avoided the media spotlight and was completely devoted to the singer for over 60 years, died at 82 on Monday.
Dolly Parton once said Carl Dean only ever saw her perform once in over 60 years together. He loved her for her, not for the rhinestones. He’s passed away at 82, but their kind of love doesn’t die. pic.twitter.com/i1briFuYTg
— Lauren (@LaurenRock) March 4, 2025
The news was confirmed on Monday in a statement from Parton, 79, who wrote, “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.”
His cause of death was not announced, and the family has asked for privacy on the matter.
Parton and Dean shared a love story that reads like a Southern fairytale: On the day Parton moved to Nashville to become a singer, she met him outside a Wishy Washy Laundromat at 18. They married in 1966, two years after first meeting in Georgia. Dean was part of the family asphalt business.
In an interview with The New York Times in 1974, Parton recalled that first meeting fondly. “I was in such a hurry to get here [Nashville]. 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.”
She continued, ‘Bein’ from the country, I spoke to everybody. And he came over and, well, it was Carl, my husband.”
However, despite being married for six decades, Dean rarely attended public events with Parton, opting to support her from the sidelines even as her stardom rose. According to Parton, this was intentionally done to prevent possible relationship ruin. She insisted that, “What we have together is so sweet and good that I’d never want it to get jumbled up with the other.”
In her Apple Music podcast, What Would Dolly Do?, Parton further explained, “He went to one thing with me early on, when we first married, to a BMI Song of the Year [event], and he came out of there taking off his tuxedo, his tie and all that and said, ‘Don’t ever ask me to go to another one of these damn things because I ain’t going.’ I never asked him and he never did.”
Parton also attributed Dean’s disconnect to fame as one of the reasons why their marriage worked. She commented to E! News, “Somebody said ‘Oh, you know, how do you know how do you feel about being married to a star?’ He said, ‘I didn’t know I was.’ To him, I’m his star, but he doesn’t relate to any of that.”
The couple did not have children together; however, Parton is the godmother to Grammy Award-winning singer and Disney alum Miley Cyrus. In an interview, Parton stated, “I often think, it just wasn’t meant for me to have kids so everybody’s kids can be mine.”
In a rare public interview with Entertainment Tonight in 2016, Dean expressed his love for Parton, recalling that upon first meeting her, “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.” The couple renewed their vows after 50 years together in 2016.
Dean might best be known as the inspiration behind what some call Parton’s biggest hit, “Jolene,” which was recently reimagined by Beyoncé on the Grammy-winning Cowboy Carter album. According to Parton, the song was written about a bank teller that had a crush on her husband. She admitted that it became a running joke between the two. “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.”
Dolly Parton gives her honest take on JOLENE and COWBOY CARTER pic.twitter.com/K8BOxxs9q5— NotBeyoncebutViolence (@ourhermitage) May 31, 2024
“Jolene,” which never reached number one on any Billboard music chart, earned a Grammy nomination. However, the song has forever cemented itself in Dolly Parton’s career. Parton attributes other songs to Dean, including Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven,” which she covered on 2002’s “Halos and Horns,” and 2023’s rock cover album, Rockstar. She recently appeared on the remix of “Please Please Please” off of the deluxe edition of Sabrina Carpenter‘s Short n’ Sweet.
Dean is survived by Parton and two siblings.
