DOLLY Parton’s husband Carl Dean has died aged 82.
The country icon confirmed the news through a heartbreaking tribute, after nearly 60 years of marriage.
Dolly, 79, revealed her husband died on Monday in Nashville and his family would hold a private ceremony for Carl.
She shared a heartbreaking tribute to her late partner on Instagram.
Dolly said: “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.”
Dolly did not reveal her husband’s cause of death but had previously been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in 2019.
Dean is survived by his siblings, Sandra and Donnie.
The music legend dedicated some of her most famous songs to her beloved husband.
Dolly even wrote the hit I Will Always Love You and her 2012 song From Here to the Moon and Back about Carl.
Their relationship was said to have begun with love at first sight when they met outside a laundromat in Nashville, which Dean wrote on Dolly’s official website about the then 18-year-old singer.
He said: “My first thought was I’m gonna marry that girl.”
“My second thought was, ‘Lord she’s good lookin.’ And that was the day my life began.”
Dolly and Carl tied the knot on May 30, 1966.
The couple would have celebrated their 59th anniversary on May 30.
They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2016 by renewing their vows.
At the time Dolly told Entertainment Tonight: “If I had it to do all over, I’d do it all over again, and we did.”
Carl Dean was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, on July 20, 1942.
He was a private person who rarely entered the media spotlight or made public appearances with Dolly.
Carl owned a successful asphalt laying company in Nashville.