At 76, Dolly Parton Says She ‘Doesn't Feel Old’: ‘I Try Not to Think About the Number’
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After turning 76, Dolly Parton shared how she feels about her age.
She said she doesn’t feel old, and chooses to “think like I’m 35 all the time.”
“I wish I could be young forever so I could do more things, but every year it seems like I do more things,” she said.
Some people shy away from sharing their age as they grow older, but Dolly Parton isn’t one of them. The Queen of Country just turned 76, and is proud of all she’s accomplished in those years. (Who wouldn’t be?)
“I try not to think about the number, and I couldn’t lie about it anyway because I’ve been in show business all my life. Everybody knows how old I am every year,” she recently told Gayle King on CBS Mornings.
And while she isn’t ashamed of how much life she’s lived, she also doesn’t let the number define her. “I don’t feel old,” she admitted. “In my mind, I remember my life was in a great spot when I was 35 years old, and I remember at that time thinking, ‘This is a great time in my life.’ So I chose to just kind of think like I’m 35 all the time in my mind. No matter what the numbers say. Numbers lie.”
King appreciated that sentiment, adding that she personally really enjoyed her 40s. She then asked Parton to elaborate on her favorite stage of life.
“When I was about 35 I remember thinking, ‘I’m out of debt for the most part, you know, and I can kind of relax a little bit—because I had really done a lot of the things I had worked so hard to do,” she explained. “I don’t think I slowed up at all until I was 35. And I just rested a minute. And then I went at it again.”
We’ve hardly seen the words “Dolly Parton” and “rest” in the same sentence. The “Jolene” singer stays busy—waking up at 3 a.m. every day—and admitted that she’s “not one to let an opportunity go to waste.”
“I wish I could be young forever so I could do more things, but every year it seems like I do more things, and I feel like I’ve dreamed myself into a corner because my dreams have come true, but I have to still be responsible for them,” she explained.
As someone who has founded multiple charitable organizations, a book drive for kids, and helped fund a coronavirus vaccine, it’s safe to say she’s done her part, and it’s pleased a lot of people. But she’s learned along the way that even she—as beloved as she is—can’t make everyone happy.
“I try to please people although I’ve always known I couldn’t please everybody, but I try to please as many people as I can,” she told King. “It’s more important that I please myself. If I’m pleasing to me, I think that that will be pleasing to other people as well. I think people sense it if you're comfortable in your own skin.”
Parton then interrupted herself with one of her classic one-liners: “I’m comfortable in my own skin, no matter how far I’ve stretched it,” she laughed.
All in all, her secret to being happy at any age is simple. “I just try to look as good as I can and I just try to be comfortable,” she said. “And you know, just be myself.”
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