What Dolly Parton Said About Her Health Battle Before Death

Part of building herself up physically, emotionally and spiritually involved rediscovering her inspiration for writing.

“Several things I’ve wanted to start, but I can’t do it,” she lamented on Khloe Kardashian’s Khloé in Wonder Land podcast last June. “I will later, but I’m just coming up with such wonderful, beautiful ideas. But I think I won’t finish it.”

Parton noted she didn’t want the grief that would surface during the songwriting process to affect her other work, adding, “I can’t do it right now, because I got so many other things and I can’t afford the luxury of getting that emotional right now.”

The “I Will Always Love You” singer had also opened up about her health in her 2017 book Dolly on Dolly: Interviews and Encounters with Dolly Parton, detailing her struggles with eating issues and endometriosis in her 30s.

“I was working hard, and underneath I was a pile of personal and emotional problems,” she shared. “All at once I fell apart. It was stomach problems and female problems—all over health problems actually.”

Parton eventually had a partial hysterectomy, which was later followed by binge eating, consuming excessive alcohol and even contemplating suicide before she got better.

“I’m grateful it happened when I was still young enough to bounce back,” Parton explained. “I went through a dark time until I made myself snap out of it.”

And there’s no doubt her fans will always love her. Read on to look back at Parton’s life through the years.