Dolly Parton’s husband, Carl Dean, who passed away in March at the age of 82, had been ill for some time. The singer reveals this in an interview with The Independent. Parton does not disclose what he suffered from.
“Part of me found peace in the fact that he is now at peace and no longer has to suffer,” says the 79-year-old singer. Parton says she draws comfort from her faith and believes that she will see Dean again one day. “I am a person of faith, and I truly believe that I will see him again one day.”
Dean and Parton were together for more than sixty years. They met at a laundromat and married in 1966. The couple remained childless. Despite Parton’s worldwide success, Dean consciously chose a life outside the spotlight.
“The love we felt for each other for more than sixty years cannot be expressed in words,” Parton said earlier about their relationship. In 2024, she said that his unconditional support formed a foundation for her career: “There is always that safety, that security, that strength.”
Dean was also an important source of inspiration for Parton in a creative way. Her famous song Jolene from 1973 is based on a true situation in which a woman tried to seduce her husband. “She had everything I didn’t have,” the singer said about it in 2008.