Dolly Parton Speaks Out After Death of Husband Carl Dean: ‘I Will Always Love You’
Written by djfrosty on March 6, 2025
Dolly Parton has spoken out with another statement following the death of her husband of 60 years, Carl Dean.
In a message posted to her Instagram Thursday (March 6) — about three days after she first revealed the Nashville businessman’s passing at the age of 82 — the country superstar wrote, “This is a love note to family, friends and fans.”
“Thank you for all the messages, cards and flowers that you’ve sent to pay your respects for the loss of my beloved husband Carl,” she continued. “I can’t reach out personally to each of you, but just know it has meant the world to me.”
“He is in God’s arms now, and I am okay with that,” Parton added before quoting her own 1982 classic hit: “I will always love you.”
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Dean died Monday (March 3). The “9 to 5” singer shared the news on Instagram that day, requesting privacy for her family in a statement, and noting that her husband would be laid to rest in a private ceremony. “Carl and I spent many wonderful years together,” she said at the time. “Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.”
Parton first met Dean the day she moved to Nashville at 18 years old to pursue a career in music. Shortly after they got married in Georgia in 1966, she scored her first of more than 100 career entries on the Hot Country Songs chart with “Dumb Blonde.”
Though Dean preferred to stay out of the spotlight and was rarely seen by the public, music was one of the first things he and the 10-time Grammy winner bonded over. In a 2023 interview with Billboard, Parton recalled listening to the car radio together on the day they met.
“I don’t remember what it was playing, but it was loud and it was rock ‘n roll,” she said, noting that she dedicated her album Rockstar to her partner because he “always loved” the genre. “The harder [and] louder, the better.”
See Parton’s post below.