Willie Nelson ‘Had No Idea’ How Sick Dolly Parton Was During Their Final Interview Together

Willie Nelson says that he and Dolly Parton were together not long before her death last month, but he had no clue just how ill she really was.

"I had no idea," he told CNN's Anderson Cooper during a new interview ahead of Farm Aid 2026, which takes place this weekend in Virginia Beach, Va. "I did an interview with her shortly before that, and she seemed fine."

Willie Nelson Remembers Early Memories of Dolly Parton

In his conversation with CNN, Nelson recounted a favorite memory of Parton that dates back to before any of their several collaborations. That was her early-career time on The Porter Wagoner Show, which she left in 1974 to pursue dreams of solo stardom.

Read More: 5 Dolly Parton Songs That Hit Different After Her Death

That departure famously inspired Parton to write "I Will Always Love You" as a farewell to Wagoner.

Nelson revealed to Cooper that in his most recent studio session, he recorded his own version of Parton's classic hit.

"It was a great song," he says. "Great, positive song."

Willie Nelson + Dolly Parton Worked Together Many Times Over the Years

After Parton's death, Nelson honored her by sharing a video of the two of them performing their duet, "Everything's Beautiful (In Its Own Way)."

They released that song, which Parton wrote, in 1982. It was part of the compilation album The Winning Hand, which heavily featured Brenda Lee and Kris Kristofferson in addition to Parton and Nelson.

Nelson also teamed with Parton to sing another track on that album: "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby."

The pair also recorded a version of "From Here to the Moon and Back" in 2013, one year after Parton sang the song with Kristofferson in her 2012 film Joyful Noise. She also joined Nelson in 2020 for a version of "Pretty Paper," Nelson's by-then-iconic Christmas song.

As Anderson Cooper mentioned in his new interview with Nelson, Parton once described singing with Nelson as "a big job."

"His phrasing is so unique and mine is also. You'd think we'd work great and we do sound good; it's just that trying to catch him or trying to figure out where in the song he's trying to go is a big job. But I loved doing it."

Nelson responded to that with a laugh, acknowledging, "Well, my phrasing is a little crazy."

"And I don't do it the same way every time, so that's difficult," he added.