Dolly Parton’s niece reveals rare detail about late country icon's private health battle
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE: Dolly Parton’s niece Jada Star revealed that the singer kept her health struggles private because she "never wanted to worry anyone", making her death on August 25 at age 80 an even greater shock to the world.
Her family was aware of her health struggles and cancer diagnosis, while the specific type of cancer remained private and was not publicly disclosed.
Dolly Parton poses for a photo at her office in Nashville, Tenn, Aug 11, 2005 (AP Photo/John Russell, File)Dolly Parton kept her health struggles secret from the public
Jada told Extra in an interview shared on Tuesday, September 1, that the family had kept Parton’s health issues private because that was what the singer wanted. Although Jada knew the world had lost a global icon, she said her family had lost its matriarch, adding that she could not remember a life without her.
Still, the family found solace in the many tributes that followed Parton’s death and in seeing how much the world loved her. Jada also recalled that Parton would have encouraged the family to stop grieving and return to work while continuing to love one another.
In the week following her death, Jada honored her aunt through song at the Grand Ole Opry’s tribute on August 29, where she performed Parton’s song 'The Orchard.'
She hoped Parton would have been proud and recalled how her aunt regularly encouraged her when she was nervous. One piece of advice Jada frequently received was not to worry about what other people thought, and those words came back to her while performing.
Jada said she could feel her aunt’s light “everywhere” during the performance. Parton’s longtime manager, Danny Nozell, also revealed that the singer had spent several years preparing for what would happen after her death.
She had handpicked a team and worked with them to develop a long-term project roadmap covering work she wanted to continue even after she was gone. Nozell said Parton worked until the day she died, loved seeing her dreams come to life and loved knowing her work brought people joy.
Dolly Parton planned for her work to continue
Nozell said the team Parton personally selected would oversee her legacy and ensure that many of the dreams she had yet to fulfill would be brought to life.
He explained that numerous projects were already in different stages of development and said fans could trust official Dolly Parton channels if unreleased music, products, books, experiences or campaigns are launched, because Parton had personally placed her stamp on them.
Parton’s nephew Bryan Seaver also announced her death in an Instagram video. Seaver, the son of Cassie Parton, said he was representing the Parton and Owens family and described Parton as “Sister, Sis and Granny” to one generation and “Gigi” to the next.
He explained that Parton had asked him years earlier to make the announcement when the time came. Seaver had served as her head of security for more than two decades, following his father Larry in the role.
Parton was admitted to the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville on August 21 and died four days later. PEOPLE previously reported that she had been dealing with kidney and autoimmune issues before her death.
