Dolly Parton’s sister explains the reason late country legend kept cancer diagnosis secret

Dolly Parton’s sister Stella has shared the reason the late country legend chose to keep her cancer diagnosis secret. READ MORE: Dolly Parton, 1946-2026: the Queen of Country was a unifying force in a divided world In her first interview since Dolly’s death, Stella told Gayle King that the true nature of Dolly’s health was only known to select people. “Some of us knew, the ones of us that were closer,” she told King. Dolly’s death was announced on August 25, and her cause of death was revealed as a “brief battle with cancer” a few days later. Though Dolly previously told fans she was “dealing with some health issues that I just didn’t pay attention to” while looking after late husband Carl Dean, the public had no idea of her cancer diagnosis. According to Stella, the ‘9 to 5’ singer intentionally withheld details of her health from fans. “She did not want people sad,” she explained. “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 as her family. “Bottom line, end of the day, her family and Carl’s family and probably Judy’s family are the people that she would want to say, ‘See, everything I did, they c...