Dolly Parton Knew She 'Would Have Been a Great Mother' But Didn't Want to 'Give Up Everything Else': 'I Probably Wouldn't Have Been a Star'

Dolly Parton said she may have never been a star had she achieved her dream of becoming a mother.

Parton passed away at 80 in Nashville, Tenn., on August 25 following a brief battle with cancer and ongoing autoimmune and kidney issues.

In a resurfaced interview featured in People's September 2026 cover story honoring her legacy, the country music star opened up about how her life may have turned out differently had she and her beloved husband, Carl Dean, had children.

"I would have been a great mother, I think. I would probably have given up everything else," she explained. "I probably wouldn’t have been a star."

Parton struggled with her fertility, even undergoing a partial hysterectomy due to endometriosis. She was candid throughout her life about her hopes and dreams to have children with her husband.

She did, however, admit to making "sacrifices" when it came to her career.

"I didn’t have children because I believed that God didn’t mean for me to have kids so everybody’s kids could be mine, so I could do things like Imagination Library, because if I hadn’t had the freedom to work, I wouldn’t have done all the things I’ve done,” she once told Oprah Winfrey.

“I wouldn’t be in a position to do all of the things I’m doing now," she added.

Parton founded the Imagination Library in 1995. The non-profit organization has provided free books to millions of children to combat illiteracy.

Parton often referred to herself as "everybody's mother," thanks to her connection with children through her organization and her music.

“I’ve never been pregnant in my life,” she said in 1984. "When I was a girl and fooling around, I was scared to death I’d get pregnant, and then when I got married and wanted to have children, I couldn’t have any."

"But I don’t miss it. I did for a while, but I realize that I am everybody’s mother,” she noted.

The Grammy-winning artist was surrounded by children her entire life and had numerous nieces and nephews with whom she was very close.

In fact, it was her nephew Bryan Seaver who acted as her head of security and announced her death to her adoring fans via a heartfelt video posted to her social media pages.

"This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality," he shared. "As her head of security for more than two decades, a role my father Larry held before me, I have imagined the heaviness of this moment but haven’t truly felt it until now.”

“It is an honor, an honor that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness," he gushed. "But sadness lies with us, not with Dolly."