A while back, when she was promoting her book about her distinct style, Dolly Parton was asked if her husband Carl Dean had a favorite outfit of hers. Parton got a dreamy smile on her face as she remembered.

Carl Dean, Dolly Parton's devoted husband of nearly 60 years who avoided the spotlight and inspired her timeless hit “Jolene,” died Monday. He was 82. According to a statement provided to The Associated Press by Parton's publicist,

One of Dolly Parton’s biggest hits was inspired, in part, by her late husband, Carl Thomas Dean. The country music icon said her 1973 smash hit “Jolene,” which went to the top of Billboard’s country music chart,