Dolly Parton still can’t believe that she’s, well, Dolly Parton.

As Southern Living‘s January/February cover star in an interview published on Wednesday, Jan. 8, the “9 to 5” singer reflects on the fame she’s achieved through the years.

“I think I’m a star to everybody but me,” Parton, 78, said. “I always wanted to be famous, but nobody could have thought of the extent it became. I’ll see a whole wall of my pictures somewhere, and I’ll wonder ‘How did that happen?’ It’s more a joy than a surprise.”

The “Jolene” singer’s career took off in 1967 when she joined the musical variety show The Porter Wagoner Show. She replaced Wagoner’s partner Norma Jean and became an immediate hit with audiences. Soon, she would become even more popular than the variety show’s host.

She has since become a successful singer-songwriter, actress and businesswoman. Parton has been nominated for two Academy Awards, won 10 Grammy Awards out of her 55 nominations, and even has her own theme park, aptly called Dollywood.

Parton’s level of fame has only risen through the years. The search for someone to portray her on Broadway in a musical based on her illustrious career called Dolly: An Original Musical has started.

Elsewhere in her conversation with Southern Living, the Steel Magnolias actress spoke about the joy of songwriting. “I walk around with a song in my head and in my heart,” she said.

There are moments where she will get so caught up in songwriting that Parton will lose her train of thought. “I’ll go into a closet and wonder, ‘Now, what in the hell did I come in here for?’ ” she said. “There’s nothing that makes me happier than writing a song.”

In November, Parton told The Guardian about the song she was most proud of writing. Though she said she’s “proud of all of them,” a country song from 1971 stood out to her.

“I think the one that’s most personal to me is the lil’ ‘Coat of Many Colors,’ because it talks about my mom, my parents, and kind of gives you an insight. It also covers bullying, acceptance and all that.”