Carl Dean (Nov. 25, 1940 – Oct.14, 2010) was a country and rock and roll piano player and entertainer and performed the "Carl Dean Show" in all 50 states throughout his career that spanned more than 50 years.
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Carl Dean Hoppe was born in Gorham, Illinois, a son to the late Jesse C. and Laura Mae (Fitch) Hoppe. Carl learned to play guitar from his father at a very early age but preferred the piano. He started his career in the summer of 1957 with a few dollars in his pocket and the determination to succeed at what he wanted to do.
Carl Dean traveled coast to coast and border to border for 43 years. He was a musician of country music and 50s and 60s rock and roll. In his younger years he played with Jerry Lee Lewis and was friends with Elvis Presley. Unfortunately he never reached the heights of stardom. He recorded a few singles and one album but mainly traveled the road playing in bars and venues.
At first Carl was backed by a called the Mad Cats who played Rockabilly in clubs around Baton Rouge and in the Southern Illinois area in the early 60's, but in later years, he put on a one-man show, singing and playing by himself.
As Carl Dean was quoted in a September 2001 interview, "I book and perform all my shows and I never miss a single one. My first love is and always will be music," he adds. "I set shows up six to eight weeks in advance and allow a week or so off before I take off again." In the same interview he extended a special thank you to all of those of Murphysboro and the surrounding area who have helped support him and his career throughout his years of travel and entertainment.
He was diagnosed in 2010 with stage IV lung cancer from which he died on Oct 14 that year.
(Scarce information edited from Legacy & Facebook).
