Carl Dean, husband of Dolly Parton for nearly 60 years and the inspiration behind “Jolene,” dies at 82.

 Carl Dean, husband of Dolly Parton for nearly 60 years and the inspiration behind “Jolene,” dies at 82.

Carl Dean, the beloved husband of Dolly Parton for nearly 60 years, passed away Monday at the age of 82. Known for inspiring Parton’s iconic hit “Jolene” and for his lifelong preference to stay out of the spotlight, Dean died in Nashville, Tennessee, according to a statement shared with The Associated Press by Parton’s publicist.

A private service for immediate family will be held to honor his life. No cause of death was given, and the family has requested privacy during this time.

“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,” Parton shared in a statement.

Dean and Parton first met when she was just 18, on her first day in Nashville, outside the Wishy Washy Laundromat.

“I was surprised and delighted that while he talked to me, he looked at my face (a rare thing for me),” Parton once recalled of their first meeting. “He seemed to be genuinely interested in finding out who I was and what I was about.”

The two married two years later on Memorial Day, May 30, 1966, in a small, private ceremony in Ringgold, Georgia.

Dean ran a successful asphalt paving business in Nashville and was the son of Virginia “Ginny” Bates Dean and Edgar “Ed” Henry Dean. Parton lovingly referred to his mother as “Mama Dean.”