Dolly Parton's husband, Carl Dean, died March 3 at the age of 82, the country music superstar announced.

"Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words cannot do justice to the love we shared for more than 60 years," Parton wrote in an X post quoted by AFP.

The singer, songwriter and actor met Dean in 1964 outside the Wishy Washy Laundromat in Nashville, Tennessee, the day he moved to the country music capital.

She was 18 and he was 21.

"I was surprised and delighted that while he was talking to me, he looked at my face (a rare thing for me)," said the "Jolene" singer, known for her glamour and airy hairstyles, according to a post on her website.

"He seemed genuinely interested in finding out who I was and what I represented," she added.

The couple married two years later in May 1966 in a simple ceremony attended only by Parton's mother, the preacher and his wife.

The modest wedding was a fitting beginning for the couple's 58-year marriage, with Dean managing to stay away from the cameras.

The Nashville-born man worked as an asphalt paver while his wife's music career skyrocketed to earn her the title "Queen of Country Music."

The couple enjoyed a simple private life, away from the spotlight.

"We love hanging out in our little camper and being ordinary," Parton told People magazine in 2015.

"I love reading, I love cooking, I love being with my husband," she explained. 

The couple has never had children.

Dean was born in 1942 to Edgar "Ed" Henry Dean and Virginia "Ginny" Bates - who Parton affectionately calls Mama Dean and says is her best friend, according to the singer's website.

Carl Dean leaves behind two siblings, Sandra and Donnie. | BGNES