Dolly Parton is as renowned for her image as her music. Even when relaxing at her apartment in her Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, she still looks the consummate showgirl as she teeters on killer heels, her diminutive, hourglass figure wrapped tightly in a gold, sequinned outfit, her extravagant blonde wig immaculate and her talon-like nails painted pillar-box red. It's hard to believe that the queen of country music with the legendary ample bust will be 60 next year. "My image is over the top but it has helped me be

recognised all over the world," she tells HELLO! in a rare and candid interview, sinking into an armchair in her lavish living room. "There was a time when no one knew me so everything that helped me stand out -so to speak! - was a part of becoming successful. People now know me, and they know there's more to me than boobs and hair." No stranger to cosmetic surgery -"I've always said I would have a nip and/or tuck here and there, as I need it. It just costs more to keep it up than it used to!" - she is, nevertheless, happy with the way she looks. "I like my appearance now even better than when I was younger," she says. But looking good is a full-time job in itself. "I am Dolly Parton and

Dolly Parton has an image to keep up," says the star, who says she modelled herself on the "town tramp" when she was nine. "Any time I think anyone's going to see me -except, of course, for my friend Judy Ogle and my husband Carl Dean -I dress up. They've both seen me when I looked like someone's old maid axmt." Not that there's any danger of her growing old gracefully - she has no intention of toning down her appearance. "I hope I can always be sexy for my age, whatever that is - currently 39!" she laughs. "I don't mind getting older because it really is all about how you feel - and I feel good." She has even' reason to. She recently enjoyed a small but memorable role playing herself in

Miss Congeniality 2, in which Sandra Bullock's character mistakes her for a drag queen. "Working with Sandra is a treat," she says. "I'd love to do more movies if they're fitting of my personality, the way Nine to Five and Steel Magnolias were." Dolly's singing career is also enjoying a renaissance. Bjork is a huge fan, the White Stripes recorded Jolene, and a tribute album of covers, Just Because I'm a Woman, has been recorded with noted singers including Norah Jones and Shelby Lynne. In a wise move she has always insisted on owning the publishing rights to her songs - Whitney Houston's seminal 1992

version of her hit I Will Always Lave You earned Dolly a cool £3 million. It was also a testament to her sound business sense - almost two decades earlier, in 1971, she'd refused to let Elvis Presley have the same song when his manager, Colonel Parker, demanded half the publishing rights. Indeed, the biggest star country music has ever produced, Dolly is not only a hugely accomplished singer and songwriier but also a successful businesswoman. One TV talk show host once described her as having "the brains of a computer, and heart of an artist and the spirit of a preacher," The fourth of 12 children,

she was brought up in a four-bedroom shack in the Smoky Mountains of Dollywood, her theme park which celebrates its 20ih anniversary this year and is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the US, with 2.5 million visitors each year -far more than Elvis Prcsley's Graaceland -boasts a replica of that shack alongside its rides and attractions, as a reminder of just how far she has come. Her wealth has been estimated at £52 million -along with her theme park, she owns a radio station, a film company and a clothing line. But despite her

business acumen, she denies she has exceptional financial skills. "It isn't about money," she shrugs. "If you do the right thing and invole the right people, you can make money." One of the most enduring - and intriguing - aspects of Dolly's personal life is her 38-year marriage to Carl Dean, whom she met when she was 18, the day after she moved to Nashville. She was standing outside a launderette called Wishy Washy and she likes to joke that that phrase has defined their relationship ever since. It has, in fact, been dogged by

rumours of Dolly's affairs with some of her co-stars -including Burt Reynolds and Sylvester Stallone - and that she and Carl have an open marriage. The fact that her husband is rarely seen by her side has helped fan the flames. "Carl is a quiet, shy person," she explains. "He knows me and knows all the tabloid junk is trash, it has never bothered me or him, but sometimes when they write about family or friends, it can be hurtful for them. They and their families don't understand the business and the price they pay for being famous "Carl is my home base and he keeps mt grounded." she continues. "The world I work in can be bizarre but when I go home and go camping will him, the world is

normal and calm. Carl doesn't go with me much because he likes it quiet. When he does go, he sneaks around. Sometimes he'll pay his way into Dollywood just so no one will notice he's there. He has actually appeared a few times with me on stage acting like he was one of my band members!" Family and her roots are extremely important to Dolly. She is now the matriarch of a huge extended clan, looking after many of her siblings and their children - with more than 100 relatives on her payroll. While hers is a classic tale of rags to riches -she

wrote her first song aged five, first appeared 0n TV aged 12 and became virtually an overnight succes when she moved to Nashville at 18 - she has neve forgotten where she comes from. "I have always dreamed big. I also have always felt blessed," she savs. "I never felt like leaving my background. I take all of me everywhere I go. Everything I have ever done makes me who I and stronger for having done it. My roots are actually th great family and friends I've made along the way That's why I'm blessed." She claims never to have resettled her

financial responsibility to her relatives. "Family is family," she states simply. "They call me Aunt Granny and think of me as the head of the clan. I take my responsibility seriously to look after them. But mostly, I love them. Sometimes when I'm tired or too busy, I think of it as a burden - but when I have time to reflect, I think of it as a blessing. Imagine what it would be like if you didn't have family." She and Carl have never had children and in 1984, aged 36, Dolly underwent a partial hysterectomy. "I think God lets everything happen for a reason," she says thoughtfully. "Women are raised to

belive the primary role in life is to bear and raise children. When you realise you can't, you ask God to show to other purposes and then you set out to fulfil and use that plan. "I realise now that God didn't mean for me to have children so that all children could be mine. That's why I have started programmes like the Imagination Library through my Dollywood Foundation. I love kids and have a child-like mind myself." When she suffered from depression, even considering suicide, following her hysterectomy, hher faith helped her through. "I

recovered with the help of God and prayer. I learned to pray every day and to be patient. God tells me what is right and wrong, what should I do and when and with whom." But for now, Dolly is happy to bask in her succcess and embrace her new-found popularity. "It seems that fashion has caught up with me," she laughs, it is now okay to dress wild and outrageous, and my hairdos pale in comparison to the entertainment world. I love it! Wonder what I can do next to stand out?"