Dolly Parton, renowned country music legend, maintained a positive outlook until her final days, an exclusive source revealed. The artist, who passed away from cancer on August 25, 2026, at the age of 80, had her Christian faith as a pillar to face the disease.
The star had shared, on August 21, 2026, that she was facing health problems. “As I’ve shared in video messages over the past year, I’m dealing with some health issues that I just didn’t pay attention to while caring for Carl,” the singer said, referring to her late husband, Carl Dean.
The “Jolene” performer added that she was still in the recovery process and active in her projects. “I’m still healing, I’m still working! You know me — like I’ve always said — I’ve dreamed a lot and I still have so many things I want to accomplish, so I’ll keep working as long as I can to see it all happen,” he said.
This intensely positive outlook, even in the face of adversity, was deeply rooted in his belief, according to one source. “Since Dolly Parton was born, she has been surrounded by faith, by God, by Jesus. Her grandfather was a preacher. Even in her Broadway show, she shows how much faith means to her,” the source explained.
The same source added that it is common for people of faith to believe that God is in control. “It doesn’t matter what the doctors say, what people say. It’s not over until God says it’s over. I think she lived each day working and, until God called her home, she was here and had more work to do,” he declared.
The influence of Pentecostal training on the artist’s communication
The artist’s faith would also have influenced the way she approached her health condition, according to the source. “She came from a Pentecostal background. Her grandfather was a Pentecostal preacher”, he detailed.
In the Pentecostal faith, according to the same source, and also in the Bible, the power of life and death is in the tongue. “And so, the things that you give power to, the things that you verbalize, are the things that will manifest. And so, I believe she thought as a Christian: I’m going to speak faith, I’m going to speak life, I’m going to speak abundance and I’m not going to speak death,” the source explained.
The source continued, stating that Dolly Parton has truly given her life into the hands of a greater force. “I think she truly put her life in his hands and said, ‘When it’s my time to go, it’s my time to go.’ And I know she leaned on her faith these last few years. That’s how we deal with difficulties in life,” he said.
In 2020, the singer revealed the importance of prayer in her life. “I pray every day. For me, it’s my salvation. It helps me in everything. It has helped me in difficult times. I’m a writer, so I have to live with my feelings on the surface. When I suffer, I suffer completely. When I laugh, I laugh completely. When I’m happy, I’m happy completely. The word God is good — there’s just one more ‘o’ there in the middle”, she commented.
The star’s belief system also motivated his desire to do good. “She knew she was blessed and the Bible says, ‘To whom much is given, much will be required.’ “The way she gave back came from a grateful heart, and that grateful heart, I believe, overflowed from her relationship with Jesus.”
The previous year, in a magazine interview, the star openly shared how she received messages from God.
“It doesn’t come in words, for me, it comes in feelings and a knowing that I have: ‘Okay, time to go now. Time to do this, time to do that. No, Dolly, don’t do that,’ something like that,” she described. “But I’m guided. I just feel like I have a mission or maybe my ministry, so to speak. I feel like I’m supposed to do things and I’ll stop when God tells me to stop and I won’t stop before then.”
