NEW YORK — Dolly Parton kept her cancer diagnosis private to protect fans and loved ones from sadness as she declined, her sister Stella revealed Wednesday in her first interview since the beloved star’s death last month.

The singer’s fans were shocked when the effervescent country music star, actress and philanthropist died at age 80 on Aug. 25 after what was later revealed to be a brief cancer battle.

“The family seemed to have time to prepare,” “CBS Mornings” co-host Gayle King said in the Nashville sit-down. “To the rest of us looking in from the outside, it was such a shock to us.”

Even much of Parton’s family was in the dark, Stella clarified, echoing previous comments by their first cousin Richie Owens, the family historian. But until Wednesday, few people knew why.

“She didn’t want a lot of the family worried about it,” Stella said. “Some of us knew, the ones of us that were closer, but not the whole family knew. Not every relative.”

That concern extended to the widest circle of all, Parton’s fans.

“Dolly did not want anybody to tell that because Dolly could not bear negative things, and she would not have wanted her fans worried about it,” 77-year-old Parton said of her older sister, who appeared effortlessly effervescent until the end. “She did not want people sad.”

Holding her health problems close served the dual purpose of supporting Parton’s bereaved family and other loved ones after her death, Stella Parton told King in a Nashville interview. “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.”

Parton was buried in a small, private ceremony on Aug. 28 and laid to rest beside her beloved husband of 59 years, Carl Dean, who died in March 2025.

Stella Parton’s full interview with King will air Thursday at 10 a.m. on “CBS Mornings.”

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