Dolly Parton’s sister has revealed that she kept her cancer diagnosis a secret from much of her family as she did not want them to worry.
The country music icon died aged 80 on August 25 after a private battle with cancer, with the news coming as a shock to her many fans.
Earlier this month, Dolly’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star was vandalised just days after the singer’s death.
Now, however, the musician’s sister, Stella Parton, 77, has opened up about why Dolly kept her illness largely private.
Speaking to Gayle King on CBS Mornings, Stella said: ‘She did not want anybody to tell.
‘Dolly could not bear negative things and she would not have wanted her fans worried about it.’
Stella also added that Dolly ‘didn’t want a lot of family worried about it’.
‘Some of us knew, the ones of us that were closer,’ Stella explained. ‘But not every relative,’ she continued.
‘Dolly did not want people sad and she did not want people worried.
‘She’d 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.’
This comes after Stella made an emotional plea for compassion after revealing her family faced ‘incredible pressure and insensitivity from strangers’ in the wake of Dolly’s death.
In a lengthy statement shared on Instagram, she hit out at the flood of AI-generated content and misinformation surrounding her sister’s death.
‘First let me say, thank you to the ones of you who have shown “genuine” support and love during this time of our family bereavement,’ Stella began.
‘Sadly, because of the way our lives have been lived in front of the public, we have no choice but to be subjected to incredible pressure and insensitivity from strangers,’ she continued.
She particularly criticised the ‘tremendous amount of AI and endless garbage’ that has appeared online since Dolly’s death, describing it as ‘challenging to absorb and or ignore’.
Commenting on Dolly’s decision to keep her cancer battle private, Dolly’s niece, Jada Star, also said that she ‘never wanted to worry anybody’.
Speaking exclusively to Extra in a video interview, Jada said: ‘You know, we kind of kept all that stuff real private.
‘It’s been very difficult and really surreal. I think we all share that feeling.’