Dolly Parton's husband, Carl Dean, died on March 3 in Nashville, at the age of 82. Parton issued a statement saying, in part, "Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy." A cause of death has not been disclosed.

The pair married two years after Parton moved to Nashville, on May 30, 1966. Parton met Dean the day she arrived in the city, when she was 18. "He seemed to be genuinely interested in finding out who I was and what I was about," the country star later recalled.

Dean owned a paving business in Nashville, while keeping a low profile – so low, in fact, that Parton once told the Associated Press that "A lot of people say there’s no Carl Dean, that he’s just somebody I made up to keep other people off me."

Dean is survived by Parton and his two siblings, Donnie and Sandra. The family has asked for privacy and respect at this time.