Dolly Parton wants to die on stage.

Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton

The 72-year-old singer feels "grateful" to be alive and has no plans to retire because she still enjoys her career so much.

She said: "It'll happen when it happens. That's how I feel. I am grateful that I am still here. So many people have more talent than I've ever dreamed of having that never get to see dreams come true.

"There's a whole lot to be said for loving your work and having confidence in yourself. I never once thought of retiring...

"I just hope I fall dead in the middle of a song, hopefully one I wrote, right on stage. That's the way I go!"

However, the 'Jolene' hitmaker admitted she would think about slowing down if her husband needed her.

She told People magazine: "If my husband needed me, or someone in my family, I would put him first. I've always put myself first and my career first, but if something were to happen to him, I would pull back on that."

However, Dolly wouldn't retire completely.

She said: "I'd still find a way to work, still find a way to be productive."

The '9 to 5' hitmaker has travelled the world with her career but there's still somewhere she wants to visit that she's never made it to yet.

She said: "I've never been to the Holy Land.

"I wanted to always take my mom and grandpa, who was a preacher, and I couldn't afford it. They're not here now, but that's something I'd like to do."

Although she's had a highly successful career over the years, the country legend recently admitted that she used to sleep in a car with her uncle when she first started singing.

She said: "We'd sleep in the car, that was our room ... my bedroom was the backseat and [Bill's] was the front seat. I'd wash my hair in the filling station bathrooms and put makeup on in the side mirror of the car, and that was just how you did it."


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