Dolly Parton has revealed she once came close to suicide - but her pet dog saved her life.
The country superstar was driven to want to take her own life after having her heart broken.
And she says she was just about to do it when her pet Boston Terrier, Popeye, ran in and stopped her.
The 73-year-old singer opens up about her heartbreaking suicide attempt in an interview published in new book Dolly On Dolly: Interviews and Encounters with Dolly Parton.
Dolly says she was sitting considering pulling the trigger of a gun when her dog came running up the stairs and into the room.
She said: "I was sitting upstairs in my bedroom one afternoon when I noticed in the nightstand drawer my gun that I keep for burglars.
"I looked at it a long time... Then, just as I picked it up, just to hold it and look at it for a moment, our little dog, Popeye, came running up the stairs.
"The tap-tap-tap of his paws jolted me back to reality I suddenly froze. I put the gun down. Then I prayed."
Dolly believes her dog's intervention was a sign from God.
She said: "I kinda believe Popeye was a spiritual messenger from God.
"I don’t think I’d have done it, killed myself, but I can’t say for sure. Now that I've gone through that terrible moment, I can certainly understand the possibilities even for someone solid like me if the pain gets bad enough."
The book also explores Dolly's childhood growing up in Tennessee as the oldest of 12 children.
She says her family was so poor that she and her siblings had to bathe in the local river, and that it was a plus if one of them wet the shared bed as it kept them warm.
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