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It’s been two weeks since Dolly Parton passed away following a brief battle with cancer.
And while the country legend connected with tens of millions of lives through her music and her humanitarian work, it seems that she could be a very private person.
In fact, even while privately battling cancer, the country music legend apparently remained determined to keep the people she loved from worrying about her.
While we knew that Dolly had had some health issues, news of her death came as a shock to fans around the world. And, as it turns out, to some members of her own family.
During a new interview with CBS Mornings, Dolly’s sister, Stella Parton, revealed that the singer intentionally kept her diagnosis private from much of their extended family.
“Some of us knew, the ones of us that were closer,” Stella explained.
In other words, Dolly apparently wasn’t exactly sending out a family-wide memo about her health.
And there was a very Dolly reason for keeping everyone in the dark.
“She did not want people sad,” Stella said. “Dolly could not bear negative things.”
The country icon also didn’t want her millions of fans focusing on her illness rather than the joy she had spent her life spreading.
“She would not have wanted her fans worried about it,” Stella added.
That commitment to keeping things positive was apparently characteristic of Dolly right up until the end.
Her representatives announced after her death that she had “bravely” faced a brief battle with cancer before passing away at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville.
However, the family has not disclosed what type of cancer she had or how long she had been battling the disease.
Dolly’s niece, Jada Star, previously offered similar insight into the country icon’s decision to keep her health struggles private.
“She never wanted to worry anybody,” Star said earlier this month, explaining that the family “kept all that stuff real private.”
Dolly had experienced other health problems in the months before her death, including kidney and autoimmune issues, and canceled several public appearances.
But even as her health declined, she apparently remained focused on protecting everyone else from the reality of what she was going through.
That selflessness extended beyond her own family.
According to Stella, Dolly was even willing to undergo experimental treatments if doctors believed doing so could potentially help other patients in the future.
It was a fitting final chapter for a woman whose legacy extends far beyond music.
“She’d be really happy and delighted that people have shown her so much love,” Stella said of the massive outpouring of tributes following Dolly’s death.
She will be missed by millions for many years to come.
Dolly Parton’s Family Didn’t Know She Had Cancer, Sister Reveals was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.
