<div><p>Dolly Parton is undoubtedly the Queen of Country music who always seems to have a smile on her face. </p><p>The Tennessee darling has been making chart-topping music for decades, but a new book reveals some of the darker moments of her past. </p><p>Parton has not been silent about her childhood and the <a href="https://www.shared.com/dolly-partons-rare-performance-of-her-classic-hit-is-leaving-people-st-2199205059/">struggles </a>she and her family had to go through. According to this new book, however, there's an even bigger struggle Dolly had to deal with. </p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/gm-dolly-parton-900x578px.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/gm-dolly-parton-900x578px_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/gm-dolly-parton-900x578px_GH_content_650px.jpg 650w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/gm-dolly-parton-900x578px_GH_content_750px.jpg 750w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/gm-dolly-parton-900x578px_GH_content_850px.jpg 850w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite>Global Merchandising Services</cite></figcaption></figure></div><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>The unauthorized book claims Dolly Parton had an 'affair of the heart' in the 1980s behind the back of her then husband. The affair did not end well, and Parton's heart was so broken she almost committed suicide. The affair was supposedly with her band leader Gregg Perry. </p><p>"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," she <a href="http://rare.us/rare-people/new-book-gives-a-look-into-dolly-partons-past-including-what-nearly-drove-her-to-suicide/" target="_blank">reportedly </a>said. "The tap-tap-tap of his paws jolted me back to reality. I kinda believe Popeye was a spiritual messenger from God."</p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/Dolly_Parton_and_Bob_Corker.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/Dolly_Parton_and_Bob_Corker_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/Dolly_Parton_and_Bob_Corker_GH_content_650px.jpg 650w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img><figcaption class="op-vertical-center">Dolly Parton and her husband, Carl Dean.<cite>FrostSnow</cite></figcaption></figure></div><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>"I don't think I'd have done it, killed myself, but I can't say for sure," she allegedly <a href="http://rare.us/rare-people/new-book-gives-a-look-into-dolly-partons-past-including-what-nearly-drove-her-to-suicide/" target="_blank">continued</a>. "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."</p><p>The book, entitled 'Dolly on Dolly' also chronicles the country singer's struggles with binge eating. her childhood, and her sexual experimentation. </p></div>