Many of Dolly Parton’s family members had no idea she was battling cancer before she died last month.
Her sister Stella Parton spoke on “CBS Mornings” Wednesday about the late country icon’s choice not to tell “every relative” about her health struggles.
“Dolly could not bear negative things and she would not have wanted her fans worried about it,” the 77-year-old said. “She didn’t want a lot of the family worried about it.”
Stella clarified, “Some of us knew, the ones that were closer.”
Since Dolly “did not want to see people sad,” Stella believes the Grammy winner would “be really happy and delighted that people have shown her so much love because she knew that that would make us feel better as her family.”
Stella previously wrote via Facebook that her sister was “thinking of others … to the very end.”
She remembered Dolly saying that “if there was no hope for her, she would still allow her medical team to try experimental drugs in the hope of helping others in the future.”
Dolly died in August at 80, with her reps subsequently confirming the actress “bravely fac[ed] a brief battle with cancer.”
The “9 to 5” hitmaker’s spokespeople did not elaborate further on her condition.
TMZ reported last month that Dolly was hospitalized at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville with kidney and autoimmune issues, days before her death.
The songwriter’s passing was a shock to her loved ones, with some not making it to Tennessee beforehand.
She was laid to rest on Aug. 28, with her cousin telling “Today” show viewers last week that the burial was “very quiet [and] very quickly done.”
He said that while “a few” loved ones were at the burial, “other people [who] would have liked to [have] been there” were “doing other things and stuff.”
Dolly was buried at the Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum beside her late husband, Carl Dean Thomas.
In her last interview, Dolly said she was “dealing with some health issues that [she] just didn’t pay attention to” while taking care of her partner, who died in March 2025 at 82.
The performer hinted at this in the last year of her life, repeatedly making headlines for canceling appearances.
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