Beloved country legend Dolly Parton is mourning the death of her husband of almost 60 years, Carl Dean, who passed away Monday at the age of 82.
Parton's publicist shared a statement with the Associated Press indicating Dean died in Nashville, Tennessee, and will be laid to rest "in a private service with immediate family attending."
Dean was survived by his siblings, Sandra and Donnie.
The publicist relayed Parton's message, stating:
“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.
The cause of death has not been shared.
Fans were heartbroken over the news and offered their sympathies.
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Parton was 18 when she met Dean in 1964 outside a Wishy Washy Laundromat on the first day she moved to Nashville. “He seemed to be genuinely interested in finding out who I was and what I was about," she recalled on her website.
Two years later, they married on May 30, 1966, Memorial Day, in Ringgold, Georgia.
Dean was a businessman who ran an asphalt road-paving business in Nashville.
His parents were Virginia "Ginny" Bates Dean and Edgar “Ed” Henry Dean, and they had three children together. Parton often referred to Ginny as "Momma Dean" and said she considered Dean's mother her best friend.
He inspired Parton's 1973 hit song "Jolene," which she said was based on a red-headed bank teller who apparently had a "terrible crush" on Dean.
She told NPR:
"[Dean] 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."
Parton and Dean were rarely seen together in public, out of respect for his preference of staying out of the public eye.
The "9 to 5" singer told the Associated Press in 1984:
“A lot of people say there’s no Carl Dean, that he’s just somebody I made up to keep other people off me.”
While she never used Dean's surname professionally, Parton said that her passport reads, "Dolly Parton Dean," and she sometimes uses Dean when signing contracts.
Parton immortalized her affections for Dean in her song, "From Here to the Moon and Back," which included the following lyrics:
"From here to the moon and back / Who else in this world will love you like that? / Love everlasting, I promise you that."
On May 6, 2016, Parton announced that she and Dean would renew their vows to honor their 50th wedding anniversary.
"We're really very proud of our marriage. It's the first for both of us. And the last," she said of their union in 2011.
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