Dolly Parton Says She’s ‘Just Not the Kind’ to Retire

Dolly Parton isn't planning on slowing down any time soon. The 69-year-old has done plenty in her illustrious career, which has spanned almost 50 years, but she insists that she has much more that she wants to accomplish.

"I wouldn't know how to relax," Parton tells People. "I'm just not the kind ... I love what I do, and I just find that peace inside myself to where I can just rest ... I don't really intend to retire, unless I got sick or my husband got sick and I needed to care for him. I would like to just work until I fall over dead in 20, 30, 40, 50 years."

Parton's numerous accomplishments include her award-winning singing career; her Dollywood theme park; her numerous philanthropy endeavors, such as the Imagination Library; and her acting career. But, the Tennessee native, who is opening a new resort, DreamMore, later this year, hopes to accomplish much more, including launching her own line of cosmetics.

"There's a brain under the wig and a heart beneath the boobs," Parton maintains. "I may look artificial, but inside, I'm totally real."

The country legend says that she knew early on, even while growing up in a one-room home as one of 12 children, that she had much she wanted to accomplish.

“I knew I was gonna be a star,” she recalls. “I had a big, outgoing personality, and even then, I dressed a little bit trashy — my grandfather, who was a Pentecostal preacher, told me I looked like Jezebel! Some people thought I was a freak, and I was sensitive. But I was always myself — they couldn’t beat it out of me, they couldn’t scare it out of me, they couldn’t scold it out of me. I just couldn’t help it! I didn’t know how else to be. Still don’t."

Parton has announced plenty of activities at Dollywood this year, to coincide with the theme park's 30th anniversary, including performances by Parton herself, on Aug. 8 and 9. All of the activities are posted on Dollywood's website.