CARL Dean was married to country music icon Dolly Parton for 60 years before his sad passing.
And during the couple’s lengthy union, Carl was never really seen in public, with him even described as “reclusive” and “a loner” by his wife.
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The country singer, 79, confirmed on Monday that her husband Carl Dean had sadly died at the age of 82.
Dolly shared a heartbreaking tribute following his passing.
She penned: “Carl and I spent many wonderful years together.
“Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years.
Read More about Dolly Parton
“Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.”
Dolly did not reveal her husband’s cause of death but had previously been diagnosed with alzheimer’s disease in 2019.
And now, amid the news of Carl’s death, his final ever public photo has been uncovered.
Back in 2019, Carl was snapped stepping out near the family’s estate on Brentwood, Tennessee.
FINAL PUBLIC SNAP OF CARL
Carl, who was 77 at the time, was seen visiting the post office with an assistant.
Wearing a checkered shirt, some blue jeans, a beige coat and some beige-colored shoes, Carl looked put-together yet casual for his low-key outing.
The snap marked the first time that he he had been photographed in public in more than four decades.
CARL’S SOCIAL MEDIA CAMEO
In 2021 for her husband’s birthday, Dolly recreated her 1978 Playboy cover look in a social media post.
For the video of her surprising her husband, Dolly slipped into a black bodysuit with bunny ears and a bedazzled bow tie.
Taking to social media to document the moment at the time, Dolly said: “Today is July 20, it’s my husband Carl’s birthday,” meanwhile, Carl could be seen as Dolly surprised him.
“My husband always loved the original cover, so I was trying to think of something to do to make him happy.
“He still thinks I’m a hot chick, after 57 years, and I’m not gonna try to talk him out of that. And I hope he agrees.”
Carl was seen in the video as he sat on the sofa while his wife thrilled him with her racy recreation of her Playboy cover look.
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CARL WAS A ‘LONER’
Dolly previously spoke about how Carl was “a loner”.
Speaking to People around the time of their 50th anniversary, Dolly explained how he “doesn’t particularly care about being around anybody but me”.
She said: “He’s just always asked me to leave him out of all this. He does not like all the hullabaloo.”
The hitmaker also shared with Parade that her man was “very secure within himself”.
She told the outlet: “This is his statement: ‘Well, hell, I know it’s not easy out there. I’d feel less about any man that didn’t fall in love with you’.”
Dolly Parton’s Career Highlights
Dolly Parton is one of the most well-known country stars in the business, and her career has continued to flourish. Here’s a look at the highlights of the music legend’s decades-long career.
- Dolly wrote and released her first single, Puppy Love, including the B-track Girl Left Alone, on Goldband Records when she was 11 years old.
- Although her single wasn’t a big hit, she ended up performing at Nashville, Tennessee’s Grand Ole Opry for the first time at 13 years old and was introduced by Johnny Cash.
- Dolly made the Billboard country charts in January 1967 with two singles from Monument Records: Dumb Blonde and Something Fishy.
- The singer earned her first number-one hit in 1971 with her single Joshua.
- In 1974, Dolly’s arguably most well-known song, Jolene, reached number one on the country charts.
- Her music continued to succeed, and she was awarded the Female Vocalist of the Year award at the CMAs in 1975.
- Dolly’s track, Here You Come Again, achieved platinum status in 1978, and the album earned her a Grammy award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance.
- In 1980, Dolly starred in her first film, 9 to 5, alongside Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda and released her hit song of the same name.
- The star opened her famed amusement park, Dollywood, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, in 1986.
- Later that year, she was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
- At 75 years old, Dolly recreated her 1978 Playboy Cover for her husband Carl Dean’s birthday.
- In May 2022, it was announced that Dolly would officially be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, alongside Eminem, Lionel Richie, Carly Simon, Eurythmics, Duran Duran, and Pat Benatar.
And in 2020 she revealed how he didn’t want to be in the spotlight “at all”.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, she said: “It’s just not who he is.
“He’s like a quiet, reserved person and he figured if he ever got out there in that, he’d never get a minute’s peace and he’s right about that.
“I’ve always respected and appreciated that in him, and I’ve always tried to keep him out of the limelight as much as I can.
“He [Carl] said, ‘I didn’t choose this world, I chose you, and you chose that world.
“But we can keep our lives separate and together.’ And we do and we have.”
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