Dolly Parton opens up about her ‘little tattoos’ and the practical reason she chose the designs
Country music legend says all her designs are ‘pastel’
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Your support makes all the difference.Dolly Parton has opened up about her various tattoos, with the country singer disclosing the main reason behind most of her “pastel” body ink.
The 75-year-old Jolene singer discussed her tattoos during a cover interview with W Magazine, where she began by revealing that she has a couple butterflies tattooed on her body because of her lifelong love of the insects.
“Butterflies don’t sting, they don’t bite, and they are so beautiful,” Parton said, adding: “And I just kind of related to them with my own personality. I claimed them as my little symbol.
“I have a few little tattoos here and there.”
However, according to Parton, she got most of her tattoos for a practical reason, as she explained that she often uses the permanent designs to cover a scar.
“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.”
The country music legend did note, however, that her tattoos aren’t the typical black ink, as hers are “pastel”.
“I don’t have the real heavy, dark tattoos. Mine are all pastel. And I have more than one!” she added.
While Parton did not share the locations of the tattoos, this is not the first time that she has confirmed the existence of the ink, as she previously told People: “I do have some tattoos, that’s true. But they’re tasteful. I’m not a tattoo girl.”
At the time, the singer had also acknowledged the reason behind most of her tattoos, telling the outlet that her designs are “pretty” and “artful” and “usually started out to cover some scar, not to make a big statement”.
“Ribbons and bows and butterflies are the things that I have,” she continued, before revealing that one of her tattoos is a little beehive that she had inked over an indention and scar on her side caused by a feeding tube when she was “very sick”.
“I had a little beehive tattooed over it – a little yellow-and-brown beehive with a tiny little bee on top of the hive. The mouth of it is that little sinkhole,” she disclosed.
However, at the time, she also confirmed that she doesn’t have a tattoo for her husband Carl Dean, as he is “tattooed on [her] heart”.
While Parton hasn’t paid tribute to her husband of 54 years with a permanent design on her body, she told W Magazine that she fell instantly for Dean upon meeting him on her first day in Nashville in 1964, and that she didn’t listen when people urged told her not to get married because it would be bad for her career.
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