Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton Refuses to Hide Her Faith: ‘I Ask God to Shine Through Me’

Published Jul 11, 2025 By Carli Eastwood
Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton (Chris Polk / Variety / Penske Media via Getty Images)

Dolly Parton Was Born To Share Her Faith

Iconic country legend Dolly Parton is a woman of great faith, and says she will never hide her love for the Lord, no matter what critics have to say.

Dolly joined Khloé Kardashian this week on her Khloé in Wonder Land podcast for a conversation covering her legendary music career, current projects, and, as always, her unwavering faith.

The singer was raised in the Church of God, where her grandfather served as the preacher. She was baptized at 12 years old and grew up in a home filled with music, her grandfather was a skilled fiddle player, and she and her 11 siblings would travel to local churches to sing.

Despite her strong religious upbringing, Dolly shared with Khloé that she had to discover her faith on her own terms. She laughed, saying she was “saved about 15 times” and baptized more than once because, as a child, she was so afraid and just wanted to make sure she was right with God.

“Well, that is also in my musical, how I did that. But my grandpa was preacher, and we were Pentecostal. That’s that hell, fire and brimstone, and, Lord, if you don’t go get saved tonight, you might go out I’m prepared and the truck might hit you and you’re doomed forever. So I was so scared every time they had an article call, I’d go up, I must’ve got saved 15 times, but never did, you know, in the church,” Dolly said.

Dolly shared that she was saved in an old abandoned church near where she grew up, a building that had been empty for years and was once known for some less-than-holy activity. But to her, that didn’t matter, it became a sacred place the moment she found God there.

“There was an old abandoned church house down below us, where it had been a church years ago. It had still had an old abandoned piano, and it had broken down, and this is where people go to drink, have sex, stuff written on the walls,” she explained. “It still had Bible verses and everything, but I would go to that old church, and I felt  the presence. I felt a presence there. and so it was in that abandoned church that I just was praying to God the way that I was just saying, ‘Well, just show me, you know, help me, save me,’ because I wanna be ready.”

Dolly Says No Matter What Others Think, She Will Never Stop Sharing Her Faith In God

Dolly said that some people have told her she shouldn’t speak so openly about God and her faith, but that’s never stopped her. She hopes others can experience the same kind of relationship with God that she has, and she prays constantly for His light to shine through her.

“Even if I knew there was no God, I’d choose to believe it, because I wanna believe there’s something out there, and I do believe it, so it doesn’t matter. People say, ‘You shouldn’t talk about that.’ I said,’ Well, yes I should.’ I’m not telling you what to do. I’m just telling you what makes me work, what I believe,” Dolly said.

“And if God can shine through me, and I ask him to all the time, if somebody can see something to me that might lead them to… whatever is working for me might work for them. It doesn’t matter, I just hope that I can do some good in the world.”

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The Country Music Legend Remains One Of Most Iconic Women Of All Time

Last month, Dolly Parton’s new Vegas Residency coming at the end of the year sold out in less than an hour. The limited run of performances will take place at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace.

Not long after tickets went on sale, Ticketmaster officially announced that all six shows had sold out in less than an hour and a half. Caesars Palace then confirmed the news shortly after with a post on their social media. 

“Thank you to all the fans who logged on for tickets to Dolly: Live in Las Vegas today,” the company wrote. “The demand far exceeded the available tickets and there are no more tickets available at this time.”

While details are still limited about what Dolly has planned for these shows, it has been confirmed that she will perform some of the most iconic songs from her seven-decade career.