Though she's one of country music's most recognizable stars, Dolly Parton's life story is full of
surprises, and the legendary singer is even cooler than you thought.
Here are some things you may not know about Dolly Parton.
Parton's figure has always drawn plenty of attention, but in 2012, it was the subject
of numerous headlines for a totally unexpected reason.
It all started when Parton walked the Joyful Noise red carpet and accidentally revealed
what appeared to be a tattoo on her chest.
As Jezebel reported, she initially denied it and claimed the image was altered, but
actress Jennifer Saunders confirmed from her own personal observation that the country
legend is indeed heavily tattooed.
In an interview, Saunders recalled the time the superstar flashed her ink in a restaurant,
describing the tattoos as:
"The most beautiful angels and beautiful butterflies and baskets of flowers in pastel-colored tattoos."
Parton finally confirmed the ink rumors in 2014, telling Today,
"I do have a few little tattoos, but they were mostly done to cover scars because I'm
so fair.
So it started with that, and I'm not really one to have tattoos, but I do have a few and
they're not where you can see them."
"Splattered them here and there, but I wouldn't be a biker chick or anything."
In 2019, she touched on the subject again, telling Good Morning America,
"I got them to cover scars or things.
If I have to get a scar for any reason, I never can kind of get rid of that purple look.
So I thought, 'Well, I'm going to kind of decorate these with some flowers or little
butterflies or whatever.'"
"So I started having little pastel little things to disguise things."
Over the years, Parton has dealt with a slew of tabloid rumors alleging that her longtime
best friend and personal assistant, Judy, is actually her secret lover.
Parton finally put those rumors to rest publicly in a 2012 interview with The Sun, saying,
"Well, people love to talk, people love to gossip.
They've said that about Oprah but it's not true."
In an interview with ABC News, Parton once again compared her friendship with Judy to
Oprah Winfrey's close friendship with Gayle King.
"Judy and I have been best friends since we were like in the third and fourth grade and
I love her as much as I love anybody in the whole world, but we're not romantically involved."
Parton has been careful to say that she has nothing wrong with anyone who is gay, it's
just not a word that describes her.
She told Pride Source,
"I am not gay, but if I were I would be the first one running out of the closet."
"I Will Always Love You" may forever be associated with Whitney Houston and The Bodyguard, but
it was originally written and recorded by Dolly Parton.
What might be even more surprising is that it's not a traditional love song.
Rather than being inspired by a breakup, Parton penned the track after deciding to leave Porter
Wagoner's syndicated TV show to pursue a solo career in 1973.
Discussing that period of her life, Parton told CMT in 2011,
"I was trying to get away on my own because I had promised to stay with Porter's show
for five years.
I had been there for seven.
[Wagoner] just wasn't listening to my reasoning for my going."
So she went home and decided to write him a song in order to express her feelings, and
according to her, she was in a "very emotional place."
Explaining the true meaning of the song, she told CMT,
"It's saying, 'Just because I'm going don't mean I won't love you.
I appreciate you and I hope you do great and I appreciate everything you've done, but I'm
out of here.'"
Parton played the song for Wagoner the following morning.
It brought him to tears and her message finally hit home.
Parton added,
"He said, 'That's the prettiest song I ever heard.
And you can go, providing I get to produce that record.'
He did, and the rest is history."
Soon after its release, "I Will Always Love You" became a hit for Parton, topping the
charts in 1974.
Over the years, the track became a staple cover song with everyone from Linda Ronstadt
to LeAnn Rimes and, of course, Whitney Houston putting their own spins on the tune.
In the '70s, another megastar almost added the song to his repertoire, but Parton shut
him down when he asked for too much money.
As Parton recalled in a 2006 CMT interview, Elvis Presley "loved" the song and was getting
ready to record a cover version.
Parton was invited to attend the session and was feeling over the moon.
She reminisced,
"I was so excited.
I told everybody I knew."
Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be.
Before Presley hit the studio, Parton received a call from his manager, who told her,
"Now you know we have a rule that Elvis don't record anything that we don't take half the
publishing."
Not one to accept a bad business deal, Parton refused.
"Oh, I said I couldn't do it, because I was leaving that for my family, and so I just
didn't do it."
Admitting that she cried all night, she stuck to her guns.
These days, she still wonders what it would have sounded like, but she has no regrets.
She joked,
"When Whitney [Houston's version] came out, I made enough money to buy Graceland."
1973's "Jolene" is a Dolly Parton classic, the track was even inducted into the Grammy
Hall Of Fame, but Jolene isn't who you think she is.
Yes, Parton was inspired by a redheaded bank teller who loved flirting with her husband,
but she actually met the real Jolene years before.
Recalling a time from early in her career, Parton told NPR that the song's namesake inspiration
was a young girl who wanted an autograph.
She recalled,
"She had this beautiful red hair, this beautiful skin, these beautiful green eyes.
I said, 'Well, you're the prettiest little thing I ever saw.
So what is your name?'
And she said, 'Jolene.'
And I said, 'Jolene.
Jolene.
Jolene.'
I said, 'That is pretty.
That sounds like a song.
I'm going to write a song about that.'"
And so the idea was born, but it wasn't solidified until the flirtatious bank teller came into
the picture.
Parton explained during 2014's Glastonbury festival,
"I wrote ['Jolene'] years ago when my husband...was spending a little more time with Jolene than
I thought he should be.
I got rid of that redhead woman in a hurry.
Had it not been for that woman I would never have written 'Jolene' and I wouldn't have
made all that money, so thank you, Jolene."
"But I saw that Jolene that worked at the bank the other day, big as a house.
I won!
I won!"
Parton may never have had any kids of her own, but she does have one famous goddaughter
who she loves and protects as if she were her child, Miley Cyrus.
When Cyrus repeatedly made headlines in 2013 for everything from twerking on Robin Thicke
to swinging around on a wrecking ball, her godmother jumped to her defense.
Speaking with the Evening Standard, the country legend proclaimed,
"I've loved her through the years and watched her grow up, and I've seen how smart she is
and how talented she is.
I don't think people really realize yet what a great singer and writer she really is."
Adding that she "would never dream of" offering Cyrus unsolicited advice, she said,
"If she needs my opinion on something I will surely give it and there have been times we've
talked."
Parton then went on to justify Cyrus' eyebrow-raising antics, telling the outlet,
"I know that she has thought this all through.
We'll let her go and do her own thing."
Of course, part of Parton's defense of Cyrus is her own experience with controversy.
As she told The Sunday Times,
"Back in the day, doing my own things my own way, and dressing sexy and showing my cleavage
and all that, I got a lot of criticism.
Lots of people thought I was making a mistake and that I was just trashy, which I was."
Just leave it to Dolly Parton to rewrite the rules.
When the superstar was invited to grace the cover of Playboy in 1978, she accepted, but
with very specific terms.
Her decision to appear in the magazine wasn't just historic because she was the first country
singer to do so, but also because she did the shoot fully dressed.
She refused to appear without her clothes on and they still agreed, a true testament
to her greatness.
Even so, the songstress received plenty of backlash.
As she told CMT,
"I think people gasped when I was on the cover of Playboy because they thought I probably
had some nude layouts inside, but I did not.
I just wore that cute little bunny suit that the girls wear at the club, well, my own version
of it, and the little bunny ears and all."
Parton claims she simply considered the gig to be a great PR opportunity.
Steel Magnolias was one of the biggest hits of the '80s.
The film pretty much made Julia Roberts a superstar, landing her an Oscar nomination
for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, but the A-Lister's time on-set was a nightmare.
Sally Field and Shirley MacLaine took a walk down memory lane in 2013 for an American Film
Institute event in honor of the movie, and, according to Us Weekly, Field admitted that
director Herbert Ross, quote, "went after Julia with a vengeance."
So much so that he made her cry.
But she wasn't the sole target of his bullying.
In fact, no one was spared.
MacLaine noted,
"I remember the day Herb said to Dolly Parton, 'Why don't you take some acting lessons?'"
Field added,
"You don't say that to Dolly Parton!
Dolly Parton is absolutely the funniest, wittiest and filthiest, and she will cut you to ribbons."
Which is exactly what Parton did with Ross.
As Field revealed,
"The stronger ones of the group who were just older and had been there longer would go after
him.
That meant Shirley and Dolly."
If you think you've heard every song Dolly Parton has ever released, think again!
In 2015, the Country Music Hall of Fame inductee revealed there's one particular track that
even her biggest fans have never listened to.
And that's because she's hidden it.
Sitting down with Today at Dollywood's DreamMore Resort, Parton showed off a small wooden box,
which she used to create a time capsule filled with items from her childhood, as well as
the secret track.
"And a song I wrote this year called 'My Place in History', and I'm gonna open it when I'm
100."
To date, no one has been lucky enough to listen to the song other than Parton, and the world
won't get to enjoy it until her 100th birthday.
As InStyle reports, whether Parton is around to unlock the box herself or not, her staff
has been instructed to release the tune come January 19th, 2046.
Drag queens love Dolly Parton and, when it comes to impersonating the Queen of Sequins,
they don't mess around.
Case in point: Parton once entered a Dolly Parton lookalike contest at a gay bar near
her home in Los Angeles, California, and she lost!
During a 2012 interview with Nightline, she recalled,
"All these beautiful drag queens had worked for weeks and months getting their clothes.
So I just got in the line and I just walked across [the stage], and they just thought
I was some little short gay guy."
Parton opened up about that hilarious moment again during a 2017 interview on Harry Connick
Jr.'s daytime talk show, calling the drag queens "prettier than [she] could ever dream
of being."
"And here I come, walking across the stage, and I got the least applause of anybody."
Unfortunately for the real Parton, the winner was determined by applause.
Still, she won the consolation prize, of actually being Dolly Parton.
Not too shabby!
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Nicki Swift videos about your favorite celebs are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.