Dolly’s Husband, Carl Dean Passes

Carl Dean, Dolly Parton’s husband of nearly 60 years who avoided the spotlight and inspired her timeless hit “Jolene,” died Monday, he was 82 years old.

According to a statement provided by Parton’s publicist, Dean died in Nashville. He will be laid to rest in a private ceremony with immediate family attending.

The family has asked for respect and privacy. No cause of death was announced.

Parton met Dean outside the Wishy Washy Laundromat the day she moved to Nashville, they married two years later, on Memorial Day 1966 in Ringgold, Georgia.

Dean is survived by Parton and his two siblings, Sandra and Donnie.