Dolly Parton: Inside Her Shocking Suicide Attempt

Dolly Parton is revealing the shocking details about how she once almost took her own life after grabbing a gun and contemplated suicide.

Dolly’s grim confession about almost ending her life is published in the new book Dolly on Dolly, which editor Randy L. Schmidt put together from five decades of interviews with the country music superstar with various different publications.

Daily Mail printed excerpts of the new biography, which is not officially authorized by Parton, this week, and it includes quotes from the star on how she almost took her own life after finding herself dangerously close to suicide in the early 1980’s.

Recalling the sad moment she contemplated suicide more than 30 years ago after a relationship with a man who was not her husband, Parton revealed that she was in her bedroom when she noticed the gun she kept in her nightstand in case a burglar broke into her home and took it out the drawer to look at it.

“I looked at it a long time…,” Dolly recalled of how she contemplated suicide with the gun in her hands, admitting in the book that she believes she was suddenly saved from her depressive state by her God through her dog, Popeye.

“Just as I picked it up, just to hold it and look at it for a moment, our little dog, Popeye, came running up the stairs,” Dolly recalled according to the excerpts from the new book obtained by Daily Mail after admitting that she was in the depressive state after being left “shattered” following a breakup with a boyfriend.

“The tap-tap-tap of his paws jolted me back to reality. I suddenly froze. I put the gun down. Then I prayed,” Parton continued, confessing that she believes little Popeye was sent by God to save her from her potential suicide attempt.

Dolly Parton called the dog “a spiritual messenger from God” to stop her from committing suicide before admitting that she’s not actually sure if she’d have put the gun to her head and pulled the trigger if little Popeye hadn’t interrupted her.

“I don’t think I’d have done it, killed myself, but I can’t say for sure,” Parton confessed of almost ending her life by suicide. “Now that I’ve gone through that terrible moment, I can certainly understand the possibilities even for someone solid like me if the pain gets bad enough,” added Dolly.

Dolly said that she “cried an ocean” over the breakup, which reportedly happened due to her open relationship with husband Carl Thomas Dean, though Parton clarified that she won’t be discussing her almost suicide attempt again.

“I ain’t gonna talk about it anymore,” the “Jolene” singer said at the time. “I’ve got to keep some mystery.”

Fortunately, Dolly has since pulled through the sad time and has since gone on to be one of the most instantly recognisable faces in the music world, something Parton attributes to her pretty unique look in another interview taken from the new book.

Parton spoke candidly about her signature look, including thousands of rhinestone, big hair and bold makeup, as Dolly admitted that even she knows her look is a little “extreme” and “gaudy” but she likes that her appearance is so bold and different.

“I like the big hairdo, the gaudy clothes. I’ve never thought of myself as being a sex symbol and I don’t want to have to be a beautiful woman,” Dolly shared when discussing her instantly recognisable look in the book.

“I want people to know it’s me when they see me coming and when they see me leavin’…” continued the country music superstar of the makeup and rhinestones that have become so synonymous with her, as Parton joked that she thought the best way to make a statement would to look as “extreme” as possible.

“I just grew up really quick,” Parton continued. “I was perfect, perfect for country, that is.”

What do you think about Dolly Parton’s heartbreaking confessions about her close brush with suicide?

[Featured Image by David Becker/Getty Images]