The Untold Story Of The Country Music Icon

May 2024 ยท 2 minute read

Dolly Parton might seem like the happiest person around, but depression is equal opportunity. In 2014, she sat down with the Mirror to talk about her upcoming tour, and said that in spite of appearances, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. "Depression runs in my family on both sides, and I have to be wary," she said. "It's usually brought on by something that's going on in the family and if there are problems, sometimes it's a lot for one little person to carry."

She got incredibly candid in a 1986 interview with Ladies' Home Journal (via "Dolly on Dolly"). She talked about one period in particular, when she dealt with health scares, experiences on the set of "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" that left her in tears, family arguments, and what she described as "an affair of the heart" that left her deep in a months-long depression. 

When asked if she had ever contemplated suicide, she responded, "I got close once. ... I looked at [the gun] for a long time, wondering and saying to myself, 'Well now, this is where people get the idea of suicide, isn't it? Guns around the house and people sorrowing and all.'" She credits her dog, Popeye, as being there for her, saying that he was her "spiritual messenger from God." She added that "After that, my life changed in a positive way."

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