Celebrity4 min(s) read
Dolly Parton surprisingly revealed in a past interview that she had tattoos, but she kept them hidden for one reason.
The late country music icon sadly died at the age of 80, as announced by her family in a heartfelt statement on Tuesday (August 25), following a battle with cancer.
Parton was dealing with several health issues before her passing, but the announcement came as a shock to fans.
She'd admitted that she had "issues" that she didn't pay attention to while caring for her husband Carl Dean, who died at the age of 82 in March 2025.
But following her death, some of the country music legend's best moments have started to circulate on social media.
One of these memorable moments came during an interview with Jay Leno, where she revealed her body ink for the first time.
Back during her 1996 appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the host pointed out that there was a tattoo showing out the top of her sleeve.
She admitted: “Yeah, I have a little tattoo. Don’t start pulling my clothes down,” explaining that she had a delicate angel design and some small butterfly ink, which she described as her 'little symbol'.
Speaking to W in 2021, she said of the species: “Butterflies don’t sting, they don’t bite, and they are so beautiful,
“And I just kind of related to them with my own personality.”
Over 10 years later, actress and comedian Roseanne Barr revealed more about Parton's ink, saying on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson in 2011: “Do you know who’s totally tattooed? I shouldn’t even tell this. Dolly Parton is totally tattooed.”
“She showed me. She’s got all these awesome tattoos all over her body. No black or blue lines. All pastel, gorgeous bows all over everything,” she claimed.
Parton spoke more about her death in recent years, admitting on the Today show in 2014: “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.”
Parton admitted that they are 'mostly for [her] husband' Carl Dean, who she was married to for almost 60 years.
Speaking to People in 2020, Parton said that she isn't a 'tattoo girl' per se, but she does enjoy the selection of ink across her body.
“My tattoos are pretty, they’re artful and they usually started out to cover some scar, not to make a big statement,” she explained.
The 9 to 5 star candidly admitted: “Ribbons and bows and butterflies are the things that I have. I was very sick for a while, and I had to wear a feeding tube.
"It left a little indentation in my side, and I didn’t like it because I’m so fair that scars turn purple on me.”
Parton said that the ink work was a way of making 'positives out of negatives', with an example of a small yellow-and-brown beehive with a tiny bee on top, covering the aforementioned indentation.
“The mouth of it is that little sinkhole,” she said.
When asked if she'd ever get a tattoo of her husband, she heartwarmingly admitted that he is 'tattooed on my heart'.
She then hinted at getting more later, before joking: "I may just have to get covered with tattoos just so everybody could be right!"
