The late Dolly Parton loved a good wig.
Parton opened up about her famous mane during a 2016 appearance on Hallmark Channel's "Home & Family," confessing to the show's hosts that the then-70-year-old's signature hairdo was actually a "very teased wig."
"I used to try to keep my own hair teased as big as I like it, and having the bleach and all of that, it just broke off," she said. "I thought, ‘Why am I going through all that? Why don’t I just wear wigs? That way, I never have a bad hair day! I have a big hair day, but not a bad hair day."
The "Jolene" singer died at age 80 on Aug. 25, after experiencing a host of health issues in the last year of her life, having recently missed a planned public appearance. The details surrounding Parton's death
were not immediately available.
Parton's love affair with faux hair began shortly after she moved to Nashville to jumpstart her music career.
According to hair and skin care brand Beauty Nexus Pro, Parton got a big, bouncy blonde wig because she was tired of blow-drying her hair before every show and, as she mentions in her 2021 memoir "Dolly Parton, Songteller," "because I wanted to look like the dream I carried in my head." She also wanted to emulate the look of gospel singers and country singers from that era.
"Well, the higher the hair, as they say…" she joked during the "Home & Family" show. "But actually, I like the curls. I like the different ones. Gospel singers and country singers just have to have that big hair. It’s just a thing."
In a Good Housekeeping cover story in 2020, the country music icon confirmed that she still wore wigs daily, but continued to tend to her natural hair when she wasn't on the road: "I let it get long enough to braid sometimes — just for fun. But never for stage. My wigs are my armor."
Some of Parton's belongings, including her iconic wigs, are on display in "Dolly Suite 1986" at Dollywood's DreamMore Resort & Spa, an immersive "tour bus experience," in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Dolly Parton's husband 'always' poked fun at the big hair
Parton said her husband Carl Dean "always" likened the hairpiece on her head to a Q-Tip, as it tended to dwarf the "9 to 5" singer by a significant margin.
"It’s a funny thing because when I wear this big hair, because I’m so tiny, my husband always says I look like a Q-Tip," she said. "It’s nothing but a big white wad on my head!”
Parton's death comes nearly 16 months after Dean's passing. Parton paid tribute to her longtime love in a touching statement, saying, "words can't do justice to the love we shared."
She later expressed her gratitude to those who showed their support as she grieved.
"Thank you for all the messages, cards, and flowers that you've sent to pay your respects for the loss of my beloved husband Carl," she said. "I can't reach out personally to each of you but just know it has meant the world to me."
Parton concluded: "He is in God's arms now and I am okay with that. I will always love you."
Contributing: Liza Esquibias, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dolly Parton said 'wigs are my armor.' Why they meant so much to her
