Dolly Parton's Sister Stella Says Country Icon Was 'at Peace' When She Died

Dolly Parton's sister, Stella Parton, 77, is getting candid about the country icon's passing.

During her appearance on CBS Mornings, Stella was asked by the show's host, Gayle King, if the Queen of Country was “at peace” when she died earlier this month.

Replying to her, Stella said, “I know she was at peace. I could always tell by looking at her face, even if I hadn’t seen her in months.”

Stella continued to share how she always figured out how her late sister was feeling, even if she wasn't there next to her in the moment.

“On camera, I could tell if she was hurt, angry, happy, or sad, or felt bad. I could see it on her. She was my sister,” she said. “You know, we were very close as a family. She knew where she was going. She wasn’t going anywhere bad; she was going to be with Momma and Daddy.”

“She was definitely prepared,” she concluded.

During the interview, Stella also revealed why the "9 to 5" singer chose to keep her health struggles private.

“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 said.

“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," she added.

Stella also said, “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 cared. They really loved me,’” she continued, referencing the singer's late husband, Carl Dean, and her longtime best friend, Judy Ogle.

Dolly passed away on Tuesday, August 25, after a “brief battle with cancer,” as her representatives confirmed.

She was 80.

In a Facebook post a little while after the country legend's death, Stella opened up about Dolly's final days.

She wrote, “My sister was one of the most generous, thoughtful and kind people I’ve ever known.”

“What the world saw is exactly who she was, so much so, she told me recently that if there was no hope for her, she would still allow her medical team to try experimental drugs in the hope of helping others in the future,” she continued.

She then said, “Dolly loved the world and everyone in it. I would criticize and complain about it and she would laugh and say; ‘shoot Tedda, we’ve got more important things to do than worry about their silly a**es.’ She was right and she proved it every day.”