Who was Dolly Parton's husband Carl Dean and how did he inspire Jolene? Inside their love story as he dies aged 82

Dolly Parton's husband, Carl Thomas Dean, has passed away at the age of 82. The pair had been married nearly 60 years, having tied the knot when Dolly was 20 and Carl aged 23. Carl notoriously led a private life while supporting his musician wife from the background.

No cause of death has yet been issued, and according to a statement provided to by Dolly Parton’s publicist, her husband died in Nashville, Tennessee, and will be laid to rest in a private ceremony with immediate family in attendance. We look back on the pair's marriage and life together, in the aftermath of his passing.

Who was Dolly Parton's husband Carl Dean - and how did he inspire Jolene?

Dolly Parton's husband, Carl Thomas Dean was a businessman who owned an asphalt-paving company in Nashville. He was born in 1942 to Virginia Bates Dean and Edgar Henry Dean. He and Dolly met outside the Wishy Washy Laundromat on the day she moved to Nashville aged 18.

Little else is known about Carl who has remained notoriously private throughout his marriage to the country music legend. He did, however, inspire one of Dolly's greatest hits; Jolene.

In the early years of her marriage to Carl, Dolly noticed that her husband was spending a lot of time at the bank. It transpired a teller who worked there had developed a crush on him and he enjoyed visiting for the attention.

Her feelings surrounding the incident became the 1973 song, Jolene. Although the tune failed to reach No. 1 on Billboard’s main singles chart, it did top the Billboard country chart, earned a Grammy nomination, and became one of the star's most well known and enduring songs.

However, Dolly has been light-hearted about the song's backstory, revealing of the teller, "She got this terrible crush on my husband. And he 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."

Carl Dean was so private, there's hardly any pictures of he and Dolly together, and Dolly has previously shared that she's often been asked if her husband even existed.

How long were Dolly Parton and Carl Dean together?

Dolly Parton and Carl Dean were together for 61 years, having met in 1964. The pair married married two years after they met on Memorial Day - May 30, 1966. Their wedding was a small ceremony that took place in Ringgold, Georgia - they would've celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary this year.

The star was open about the fact her husband wanted to stay away from limelight, believing their opposite dynamics were integral to their long relationship. According to ABC, Dolly once said of Carl, "He loves music, but he is not the least bit interested in being in it, and he told me that right up front.

Early in their marriage, she persuaded him to attend an awards ceremony with her. "I rented him a tux and you know, begged him to go and he did," she recalled, adding, "And oh, he was so uncomfortable. The whole night, as soon as we hit the door, he started pulling off stuff.

Afterwards, Carl told his wife he wouldn't be attending any more events in the future, with Dolly revealing, "He said, 'Look, now I want you to do everything you want to do and I wish you the best, but don't ever ask me to go to another one of these damn things 'cause I ain't going.'"

Sharing the news of her husband's passing to Instagram, Dolly 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."

Did Dolly Parton and her husband have children?

Dolly Parton and her husband didn't have children together. According to E! News, The singer once said, "Early on, when my husband and I were dating, and then when we got married, we just assumed we would have kids. We weren't doing anything to stop it. In fact, we thought maybe we would."

She added, "We even had names if we did, but it didn't turn out that way. Now I say, 'God didn't mean for me to have kids so everybody's kids could be mine.'" It appears not having children was a something Dolly often reflected on.

"l'd have been a great mother, I think," she said, continuing, "I would probably have given up everything else. Because I would've felt guilty about that, if I'd have left them [to work]. Everything would have changed. I probably wouldn't have been a star."

As the fourth of 12 siblings, Dolly has always been surrounded by children and people. "I'm very close to my family and we're very close to our nieces and nephews," she said, adding, "Now that Carl and I are older, we often say, 'Aren't you glad we didn't have kids? Now we don't have kids to worry about.'"