Dolly Parton’s Husband: About Carl Thomas Dean & Their Marriage Before His Death

Dolly Parton married businessman Carl Thomas Dean in 1966. In March 2025, she announced her late husband’s death. Learn more about him here.

Dolly Parton has been a staple of the music industry for nearly 60 years after getting her big break in the 1960s. Her career has made her a country icon, with numerous hits including songs like “Jolene” and “9 to 5,” and she continues to be a massively influential singer to this day. Almost as long as she’s been making music, she was also married to late retired businessman Carl Thomas Dean. The pair married in 1966, and their marriage lasted until Carl’s death in March 2025.

She reminisced about their time together in a May 2, 2025, interview with Today, saying, “Oh, you know what, I get very emotional when people bring it up.” She added, “But we were together 60 years. I’ve loved him since I was 18 years old.”

Find out more about Dolly’s husband Carl Dean, and what they’ve said about their relationship.

Other than making their life together work between Dolly’s larger-than-life persona and Carl’s want for privacy, Dolly said that the pair get along well. When speaking about her tumultous relationship with late musician Porter Wagoner in a 2021 interview with W, Dolly revealed that her relationship with Carl was very different from the partnership she had with Porter. “My husband and I don’t argue,” she said. “But Porter and I did nothing but fight. It was a love-hate relationship.”

Dolly also took to her Instagram in November 2021 to share a photo of the rarely-seen Carl, and she celebrated his help. The photo was an older picture of the pair, and Carl was wearing a t-shirt with his wife’s face on it. “Find you a partner who will support you like my Carl Dean does!” Dolly captioned the post.

Why Didn’t Dolly Parton Take Carl Dean’s Last Name?

While many fans know Dolly by her maiden name, she revealed that she took her husband’s last name but performs with her own. “My passport is Dolly Parton Dean. I sign a lot of my contracts Dean. I didn’t change names [publicly] because I already had a record deal. It made no sense. He never asked me to,” she told The Guardian in 2014. “At home, to me, I’m Dolly Dean. But then I’m also Dolly Parton. I’m Dolly Parton Dean. I’m myself… If I had chosen the name Dolly Dean… I’d have been Double D. Again.”

Dolly also revealed that while there have long been rumors that she’s cheated on Carl, she’s never been unfaithful. In fact, Carl has poked fun at the tabloid headlines over the years. She said that he used their then pet-dog, named Popeye, to make a joke about rumors that she had an affair with Burt Reynolds. “After there was something written about an affair with Burt Reynolds, Carl came in with this picture of Popeye that he’d got someone to make up and he said, ‘Here’s yours and Burt’s baby,’” she told Saga Exceptional. “He’s always treated these things tongue-in-cheek and he’ll say, ‘Hell, I’d feel bad for any man that didn’t fall in love with her.’”

Dolly Parton’s Husband Carl Dean’s Cause of Death

Dolly announced March 2025 that her husband had died, and a cause of death was not immediately disclosed. However, according to TMZ, Carl was previously diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in 2019.