Dolly Parton 'could not bear negative things' and kept her cancer diagnosis from fans and family

Dolly Parton's sister is sharing why the legendary singer kept her cancer diagnosis a secret.

In an interview with " CBS Mornings'" scheduled to air Thursday, Sept.

10, her sister, Stella Parton, said Dolly didn't go public with her cancer diagnosis because she "did not want people sad," revealing she didn't even share the news with her entire family.

"Well, Dolly did not want anybody to tell that, because Dolly could not bear negative things, and she would not have wanted her fans worried about it," she shared.

"She didn’t want a lot of the family worried about it.

Some of us knew, the ones that were closer, but not every relative." The "Jolene" singer died at the age of 80 Aug.

25 after a "brief battle with cancer." DOLLY PARTON OFFERED TO TRY EXPERIMENTAL DRUGS IF ‘NO HOPE’ FOR CANCER BATTLE TO HELP OTHERS, SISTER SAYS News of her death was announced on her Instagram by her nephew, Bryan Seaver, in which he highlighted her body of work as a musician, as well as her philanthropic work with the Imagination Library.

Her death inspired tributes on social media from fans around the world, including musicians and actors, something Stella says the "9 to 5" star would have been happy with.

"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," Stella said.

"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 cared.

They really loved me." Dolly rose to stardom in 1967 when she began appearing on "The Porter Wagoner Show." During her time on the show, the two released many iconic duets and were nominated for many Grammys together.

GET ENTERTAINMENT SCOOP DELIVERED RIGHT TO YOUR EMAIL BY CLICKING HERE She chose to leave the show and focus on her solo career in 1974, after seven years with the program.

In an effort to explain to Wagoner, who had become her close friend during her tenure on the show and was unhappy with the news, why she needed to leave the show, she wrote one of her biggest hits, "I Will Always Love You." "I sang the song alone in his office — just me and my guitar," she told Howard Stern in 2023, adding that he replied, "That’s the best song you’ve ever wrote … You can go if I can produce the song." She won 10 Grammy Awards, received a Kennedy Center Honor , got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Country Music Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame.

PUT YOUR ENTERTAINMENT KNOWLEDGE TO THE TEST AND SEE HOW YOU SCORE LIKE WHAT YOU'RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS In addition to her success as a country music star, Dolly was also a philanthropist.