Dolly Parton has no filter, and that's why we love her.
Videos by Wide Open Country
As she makes the rounds to promote her new book, Star of the Show: My Life on Stage, the "Jolene" singer is letting some of her secrets slip out. In one interview, she spilled the tea on a crush she once had on the Man in Black, Johnny Cash.
Dolly Parton Was "Starstruck" With Cash
It was Cash who introduced Parton during her first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry back in 1959. She was only 13 at the time. He was 32. Parton explained to PEOPLE that in that moment, her hormones took over.
"I was starstruck with Johnny Cash because that's when he was young, and to me, I was a young girl, and that was the first time I ever knew or understood what sex appeal was," she said.
She continued, "Or that feeling that just made you feel all kinds of things all over your body, and I felt that from Johnny Cash. That was the first grown person I had that [with]. I had little crushes on boyfriends, but that's when my hormones were beginning to rage, and I just felt all those feelings for him. Because he was very charismatic...
"I thought about it years later, and that was the first time I understood what charisma, or whatever that thing is that people have. Well, he had that thing. It worked its magic on me."
Dolly Told June Carter Cash How She Felt About Johnny
Cash and Parton later became friends, but she never forgot how the Man in Black made her feel. She shared her story to June years later.
She said, "I told her, 'I had him first. I loved him before you did.' Having him introduce me that night as a very young girl, I was just a teenager, and I got to sing on the Grand Ole Opry."
However, this is not the first time Parton shared that she had a crush on Cash. When Ralph Emory played some of Parton's comments during Cash's appearance on his talk show, the Man in Black had this to say:
"I really appreciate that," he said. "That was nice of her."
You can watch the rest of Parton's interview below.
