Dolly Parton reveals her preacher grandfather would physically punish her for the way she dressed

Dolly Parton revealed that her grandfather physically punished her for the way she dressed.

The 77-year-old singer modeled her look on ‘the town bum’ – a local woman who wore high heels and tight skirts – who she admitted her father and grandfather both ‘hated’.

The 9 to 5 singer said her grandfather, Reverend Jake Owens, even went so far as to physically admonish her for her choice in clothing, and that she was ‘scolded’ and ‘talked to’.

Talk to The guardian newspaper, she said: ‘I was willing to pay for it. I’m very sensitive, I didn’t like being disciplined – it hurt my feelings so much to be scolded or hit or whatever.

“But sometimes there’s just that part of you that’s willing, if you want something bad enough, to go for it.”

Shocking: Dolly Parton (77) revealed that her grandfather physically punished her for the way she dressed (pictured in June)

She continued: ‘I’ve been at this for so long, I’ve worn the most bizarre things – my hairdo has always been so out there. At the time you think you look good, then you look back on it, like, what was I thinking?’

Dolly’s iconic outfits will include short skirts, low cut tops and bright lipstick.

The Jolene hitmaker – who has been married to Carl Dean for 57 years – has amassed a fortune of more than £400million, but has had to work to overcome prejudice about her being a woman.

Addressing sexism in the industry, she admitted she knows how to ‘maneuver’ a crowd of men and put a man ‘in his place’.

The singer estimates she has written around 3,000 songs and has sold more than 100 million records worldwide.

She is also co-owner of the ‘Dollywood’ company, which includes an amusement park and a water park.

In July, the singer said she would ‘rather die’ than retire after six decades in the music industry.

‘I will never retire. Hopefully one day I’ll drop dead on stage in the middle of a song – and hopefully one I’ve written – but that’s how I hope to go,’ she told Ken Bruce. Greatest Hits Radio.

Back in the day: Dolly modeled her look on ‘the town bum’ (on a 1975 Los Angeles photo shoot)

Shocking: Dolly’s grandfather Reverend Jake Owens went so far as to physically admonish her for her choice of clothing

‘I don’t have much of a choice in that, but in the meantime I’m going to make hay while the sun shines’.

And while the country music sensation is determined to keep performing, she admitted she has scaled back her work schedule in some aspects.

‘I’m not touring anymore, but I’ll continue to do special shows here and there, like a long weekend or festival shows,’ she said.

“But as far as touring goes, I think those days are pretty much over… you have to be away for so long on a tour to make it productive and prosperous and that’s a lot of time at my age – I’ve got no years” to waste .’

Dolly’s new album ‘Rockstar’, her 49th studio album, will be released in November 2023.

The album will feature 30 songs – nine original tracks by Parton and 21 classic rock covers featuring collaborators such as Elton John, Sting, Pink and more.

Icon: Dolly said of the future: ‘I will never retire. Hopefully one day I’ll drop dead on stage in the middle of a song – and hopefully one I wrote’ (pictured in 1977)