Dolly Parton's tattoos aren't a ''big statement''.

The '9 To 5' hitmaker has a few inkings, but insists they were put ''over some scar'' and are ''tasteful'' as she's not really a ''tattoo girl''.

She shared: ''I do have some tattoos, that's true. But they're tasteful. I'm not a tattoo girl ... My tattoos are pretty, they're artful and they usually started out to cover some scar, not to make a big statement.

''Ribbons and bows and butterflies are the things that I have. I was very sick for a while and I had to wear a feeding tube. It left a little indention in my side and I didn't like it because I'm so fair that scars turn purple on me.''

And the 74-year-old singer - who is married to Carl Dean - uses her tattoos to turn her negative experiences into positive ones.

She added: ''I like to make positives out of negatives. I had a little beehive tattooed over it - a little yellow-and-brown beehive with a tiny little bee on top of the hive. The mouth of it is that little sinkhole.''

Dolly admits there are multiple rumours about her life, including that she's ''bedridden'' because of her sizeable bust.

She told People magazine: ''Oh yeah! I always laugh at them. One, it shows up about every three years in the tabloids, where I'm bedridden because my boobs are so heavy that I'm crippled for life on my back. I just laugh. Well, they are heavy, but they haven't crippled me yet. And then they find a picture of me, from when I was actually doing a video, you know, laying on all the bed somewhere. And the story is that my spine is injured or whatever. I just think, 'Oh my Lord. If they were that heavy, I'd have them changed. I'd have them lessened.'''