Dolly Parton’s moving new statement after husband’s death

Dolly Parton has issued a moving new statement, days after the death of her beloved and reclusive husband of almost 60 years.

Country music legend Dolly Parton has issued a moving new statement after the death of her beloved husband of almost 60 years, Carl Dean.

In the new statement, 79-year-old Parton said that her husband, who died earlier this week at the age of 82, was “in God’s arms now” but assured fans that she was “OK with that.”

“This is a love note to family, friends and fans,” Parton’s statement began.

“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. 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 OK with that,” Parton’s statement continued.

Parton signed off by referencing arguably her most famous song, writing, “I will always love you.”

This single appeared on streaming services today.

And today, another tribute to her husband appeared on streaming services: A new Parton single, the ballad If You Hadn’t Been There, complete with a single cover featuring a young Dolly and Carl.

Parton met her future husband at a laundromat when she was 18, and they wed in 1966. Despite her huge career, Carl always managed to stay out of the spotlight, to the extent that very few photos have ever been publicly released of him.

Perhaps the last time Parton’s fans got a glimpse of him was in 2021, when his wife surprised him for his 79th birthday by dressing up as her famous Playboy magazine cover and recreating the shoot.

This sweet 2021 birthday snap was a rare glimpse of Dean in recent years.

The heartwarming video showed Dolly in full Playboy bunny get-up, promising her husband a “hot girl summer” – and gave fans a rare look of Carl (even if it was just the back of his head).

In an interview with The Projectlater the same year, she revealed the stunt was an attempt to keep his spirits up during a prolonged period of ill health.

“My husband has not been feeling well for quite a while, and I’ll do anything that I can to make him feel better and lift his spirits and everything. He’s always thought I was beautiful,” she said.

Parton and Dean have rarely appeared in public together throughout their marriage, leading to speculation about their “unconventional” relationship – but as Parton has explained in the past, her husband was simply a homebody with no interest in fame.

Parton once joked that people must think her husband was made-up. Picture: Theo Wargo/Getty

Parton had a close relationship with her husband – but he stayed entirely out of the public eye.

She even once joked that some people didn’t believe he was real because he stayed out of the public eye.

“A lot of people say there’s no Carl Dean, that he’s just somebody I made up to keep other people off me,” she told the Associated Press in 1984.

Dean did give at least one interview to the press, telling Entertainment Tonight in 2016 of his memories of meeting his wife for the first time:

“My first thought was ‘I’m gonna marry that girl.’ My second thought was, ‘Lord she’s good lookin’”.

He added: “And that was the day my life began. I wouldn’t trade the last 50 years for nothing on this earth.”