Celebrity5 min(s) read
Dolly Parton’s loved ones noticed a heartbreaking change in her hair just days before she died.
The country icon passed away at the age of 80 following a brief battle with cancer, with her publicist Marcel Pariseau confirming she passed away at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, surrounded by loved ones.
Parton's nephew, Bryan Seaver, announced her death in a video shared on her official social media accounts. He did not provide further details about her reported cancer diagnosis or cause of death at the time.
"Sadness lies with us, not with Dolly," he said. "Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by Carl, her parents and countless others who have watched her and longed to meet her in the heavens."
According to Rader Online, Parton spent her final weeks largely confined to her Tennessee home because she "didn't want the world to know she was very sick".
Only those closest to her were reportedly aware of just how much her health had deteriorated.
An insider said: "Her last few days were spent in bed. She was not doing well...She had lost all her hair, which she didn't have much of anyway as she relied on wigs most of her life.
"And she was very thin. She was skinny. It is said that family were by her side," they added.
Despite her declining health, the 'Jolene' hitmaker gave little indication publicly of how serious her condition had allegedly become.
In her final interview, published four days before her death, she told PEOPLE: "I am dealing with some health issues that I just didn't pay attention to when I was watching over Carl (her late husband)."
However, a source claimed Parton privately knew that she was approaching the end of her life.
"When Dolly told People she was still working and healing, she knew her life was almost over," they said. "She tried to reassure her legions of fans that she wasn't critically ill. But she knew her time was almost up. She was being her brave Dolly self, not wanting to let her fans down."
Another insider claimed Parton had largely remained inside her Tennessee compound during the final year of her life.
"She really didn't leave her home in Tennessee for the past year. She stayed inside," they shared. "The house is massive, and there are vast grounds, so she didn't need to leave.
"Six months ago, I was told that she was not taking on any new projects, that she had to focus on her health, and was not able to travel or have visitors.
"But no one would say what she had. There were whispers it was cancer, but no one would confirm it," the source added.
The claim that Parton had lost her hair is especially heartbreaking, given how closely her blonde wigs were tied to her public image throughout her more than 60-year career.
The '9-5' songstress never hid the fact that she wore wigs, although a resurfaced photograph once gave fans a rare glimpse of her natural hair.
The black-and-white image, taken around 1965 after she signed with Monument Records, showed a young Parton inside a recording booth wearing a white sweater with her natural, mid-length blonde hair swept back.
She shared the photograph on Instagram eight years ago with the caption: "Where the magic happens."
One fan responded: "Wow Dolly! I absolutely love your natural hair! You are beyond gorgeous!"
Another wrote: "Dolly Parton looks very pretty even without a big wig. I’m guessing that she uses it for her trademark after all these years. She is very pretty with or without her big hair."
Parton herself explained in a 2019 interview with ELLE magazine that she didn't always wear wigs while at home.
"I don’t always wear [wigs] in my daily life, but I always still pouf up my hair," she said. "I still like to have that flashy hair. When I’m around home, I wear my little scrunchies, but I always put on some makeup and fix my own hair as cute as I can fix it. Wigs are just so handy. I’m so busy, and I have so many choices. I never have a bad hair day, and that’s a good thing."
Parton also refused to compromise on her distinctive appearance, even after her friend and mentor Chet Atkins suggested early in her Nashville career that she change her look to be taken more seriously.
"I said, 'You know what? I can’t separate the two. This is who I am.' I not only didn’t tone it down, I figured if my work was truly good enough, people would eventually recognize that," she explained.
"It was about me knowing who I was, being happy with me, and feeling comfortable in the way I presented myself. If I was happy, I could make other people happy," she added.
Rest in peace to an icon who stayed true to herself!
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