Dolly Parton's sister says even family didn't know about cancer diagnosis

Dolly Parton’s younger sister, Stella Parton, is opening up about why the country music icon chose to keep her illness a secret before her death at age 80 on August 25.

Stella explained that Dolly intentionally kept her health struggles from the public, and even from much of their own family, because she couldn’t bear negativity and didn’t want her fans to worry.

She said: “She didn’t want people sad. Dolly couldn’t bear negative things. And she wouldn’t have wanted her fans worried about it.”

The beloved singer died at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Centre after her representatives described it as a “brief battle with cancer.” Her family hasn’t disclosed what type of cancer she had or how long she was ill.

However, Stella explained that not only a few people knew about the condition that Dolly had, but "some of us knew, the ones of us that were closer."

While the whole world was shocked by the sad news, Stella stated that Dolly "would have been really happy and delighted that people have shown her so much love."

The disclosure comes as Stella continues mourning publicly, as she deals with the "stampede of endless misinformation" that she faced on social media after her sister's death. On Instagram, Stella asked fans to appreciate the good deeds of Dolly and to pay attention to her charity work instead of spreading "garbage" on the Internet.

Her six-decade career made Dolly one of the most popular entertainers in history; she sang such well-known songs as "Jolene," "9 to 5," and "I Will Always Love You." She created the Imagination Library, which provided over 300 million books to children all over the world; this is the legacy that will be passed on after Dolly's death.

The famous singer was buried privately next to her husband, Carl Dean, who died in March 2025.