Dolly Parton Opens Up About the 'Little Tattoos' She Has Inked on Her Body
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Photographed by Harmony Korine Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton's fans have always been curious about her body ink. Last year, the "Jolene" singer told PEOPLE she did, in fact, get some "tasteful" tats, and now she's opening up even more about them.
Since her childhood, butterflies have been an important symbol in Parton's life. "I just kind of related to them with my own personality. I claimed them as my little symbol," Parton, 75, told W Magazine in a new cover story interview.
So it's no surprise that the icon has a butterfly (or three) inked on her body.
"I have a few little tattoos here and there," she told the magazine.
Parton explained that she used tattoos as a way to conceal any scars on her body that did not heal properly.
"Most of my tattoos came because I'm very fair and I have a tendency to scar when I get any kind of cut," she said. "I've had surgeries for different things, and if the scars didn't heal properly, I just gotta put tattoos to take the sting out."
Photographed by Harmony Korine Dolly Parton
Parton added: "I don't have the real heavy, dark tattoos. Mine are all pastel. And I have more than one!"
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Last year, when asked if she inked her husband of 55 years, Carl Dean, on her body somewhere Parton told PEOPLE, "No, he's tattooed on my heart." Parton said, adding, "Who knows, I may get some more later. I may just have to get covered with tattoos just so everybody could be right!"
While the Country Music Hall of Famer may not consider herself a "tattoo girl," fashion is an entirely different story. Parton's been working with her creative director Steve Summers for three decades and he's known for designing her anywhere from 300 gowns a year to crafting her over-the-top costume jewels.
"She used to wear real stuff," Summers told W Magazine of Parton's jewelry, adding that she has a tendency to pass her pieces off to fans, so they needed to pivot.
"If someone told Dolly they liked her earrings, she'd take them off and hand them to that person!" Summers said. "I'd say, 'Those were real diamonds!' And Dolly would shrug. So now we always go for fakes."
