Carl Dean, long-time husband of Donny Parton, dies aged 82
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S Panda - . March 4, 2025
- . Update: March 4, 2025 1:47 pm
Carl Dean, the long-time husband of country music legend Donny Parton, died on Monday in Tennessee at the age of 82. Parton posted a message on Instagram that also read: “The family has asked for privacy during this difficult time.”
Parton and Dean met for the first time outside a laundromat. The ‘9-5’ singer had just arrived in Nashville as a young aspiring singer. She recalled their first meeting, highlighting that Dean looked at her face as they talked, adding that he seemed to be genuinely interested.
On May 30, 1966, a couple of years later, Parton and Dean got married at a private ceremony in Ringgold, Georgia. Throughout their marriage, Carl Dean has largely remained out of the public eye, choosing instead to focus on his business.
Interestingly, Parton and Dean’s relationship became such a mysterious affair that rumours started floating around that he did not actually exist. Many people used to say that “he is just somebody I made up to keep other people off me,” she once told the media in 1984.
