00:00It was such a shock to us.
00:02Well, Dolly did not want anybody to tell that because Dolly could not bear negative things.
00:09And she would not have wanted her fans worried about it.
00:14She didn't want a lot of the family worried about it.
00:16Some of us knew, the ones of us that were closer.
00:19But not the whole family knew.
00:20Not every relative.
00:22Is that why it was a secret, you think, because she didn't want people to worry?
00:26Absolutely.
00:26You think it's as simple as that?
00:27She did not want people sad.
00:29That was Dolly Parton's sister, Stella, giving her first interview since the country legend's death.
00:35Stella told CBS Mornings about Dolly's decision to keep her cancer battle private.
00:39The 9 to 5 singer's younger sister went on to say she thinks Dolly would be really happy
00:43and delighted that people have shown her so much love in the wake of her passing.
00:48Stella is Dolly's younger sister and revealed in the past that the two had a close bond growing up
00:52in a very poor family of 14 people in a small cabin in rural Tennessee.
00:57Dolly's sister is also revealing that amid her cancer battle,
01:00the country legend was willing to try experimental drug treatments in the spirit of helping others.
01:05She wrote in a tribute on her Facebook,
01:07Dolly was one of the most generous, thoughtful, and kind people I've ever known.
01:11She told me recently that if there was no hope for her,
01:13she would still allow her medical team to try experimental drugs in the hope of helping others in the future.
01:18This comes just days after Dolly's cousin, Richie Owens,
01:22who is also the Parton family historian, revealed this about her funeral.
01:25It was a burial to be, you know, be buried beside her husband,
01:29and she wanted it very small, and a few family members were there.
01:34Other people that I'm sure would have liked to have been there were either, you know,
01:39out doing other things and stuff.
01:41So it was very quiet, very, very quickly done,
01:44and not for any bad reasons whatsoever.
01:46It's just, that's what she wanted.
01:48Her cousin went on to add that Dolly would want any money spent mourning her loss
01:52to be spent on helping others.
01:54A source told Page Six about the burial that it was, quote,
01:56a very simple ceremony, adding, that's all Dolly wanted.
02:00Before her death, Parton canceled multiple Dollywood appearances due to health issues.
02:04She said at the time she just didn't pay attention to her health
02:07while caring for her husband, Carl Dean, prior to his passing in 2025.
02:12Dolly Parton died on August 25th, 2026,
02:15after a brief battle with unspecified cancer.
02:18Her final public appearance was at the ribbon-cutting ceremony
02:20for the opening of Dolly's Tennessean Travel Stop in Cornersville, Tennessee.
02:25That event was just eight weeks before her death.
02:27a path is given during her death.
02:27At the end of the day, if it may come from us before her death.
02:28The olsun...
