Dolly Parton Dishes On Her Babysitting Gigs

While Dolly Parton and her husband, Carl Dean, don’t have children, the country music superstar has admitted that she’s a great babysitter for her nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, and grand-nephews.

Parton and Dean married in 1966. In a new interview with Taste Of Country, she discussed her new children’s book, Billy The Kid Makes It Big (which you can pre-order here), following 1994’s Coat Of Many Colors and 2009’s I Am A Rainbow, as well as her unique understanding of children.

“We’re great babysitters,” Parton gushed to the publication, admitting that she believes God didn’t want her to have children as motherhood mightn’t have allowed her to start initiatives like The Imagination Library.

“I know how kids think. I know what they feel, and I know what they like,” she continued. “I just keep ‘em out of danger. They know if they come to my house, they’ll get to do things they don’t get to do at home, but I’m going to have ‘em just for a while."

Parton revealed that she doesn’t always do what parents would agree with, such as giving the excited kids some sugary treats. “I know this sounds bad, but I don’t say, ‘No, you can’t have a piece of chocolate. No, you can’t have ice cream,’” she added. “I just love ‘em and as long as I keep ‘em out of danger, I just want them to have fun."

Parton will host the 58th Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards on Thursday, May 11 from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, with fellow country music icon, Garth Brooks. She will also unveil the first single from her highly anticipated Rock Star album.

“The ACM Awards is the world’s biggest and most ground-breaking country music awards show and the only one to stream live across the globe thanks to our partners at Prime Video, so there is no host pairing more appropriate than music’s most iconic global superstars, Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks,” said Academy of Country Music CEO and ACM Awards executive producer Damon Whiteside.

This year marks the award show's return to Texas for the first time since the 50th ACM Awards. The 2015 show saw more than 70,000 attendees at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, breaking a Guinness World Record for being the most-attended awards show.

The Academy of Country Music Awards were established in 1966, and it is the longest-running country music awards show. The show made history in 2022 as the first major awards ceremony to exclusively live stream in partnership with Prime Video.