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Dolly Parton’s health comes first.
On Monday, the legendary country star—who has faced several health setbacks over the past year—took to social media to share “some good news and a little bad news” about her condition, explained how it will affect her career moving forward, and opened up about why she chose to cancel her upcoming Las Vegas residency.
“I’m here to give you an update on a few things going on in my life,” Parton started the video. “First, it is concerning my health. And I have some good news and a little bad news. But the good news is, I’m responding really well to meds and treatments and I’m improving every day.”
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Dolly Parton, who has faced many health setbacks over the past year, gave her fans an update on her condition. (Getty Images/Dolly Parton Instagram)
As for the bad news, Parton — who originally postponed her Las Vegas residency due to health issues back in September — said she hasn’t quite reached her ability to perform at the level she’d like.
“It’s going to take me a little while before I’m up to stage-performance level because some of the meds and treatments make me a little bit swimmy-headed, as my grandma used to say,” she quipped. “And of course I can’t be dizzy, carrying around banjos, guitars, and such on five-inch heels … not to mention all those heavy rhinestone outfits, the big hair, my big personality.”
In an effort to better explain her current health journey, Parton described herself as an “old classic car.”
“Once restored it can be better than ever, but when they raised the hood on this old antique they realized that I need to rebuild my engine, that my transmission is slipping, my oil pan is leaking, and my muffler is busted, and my shocks and pistons need to be replaced,” she said. “Because you know, as well as I know, that I can’t lose my spark.”
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“I know I’m still crazy, but they didn’t mention nothing about my mental health,” she added.
Parton went on to say that she’s always had issues with kidney stones, which eventually caused her “immune system and my digestive system got all out of whack.”
“They’re working real hard on rebuilding and strengthening those,” she said.
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The country legend acknowledged that while her light sense of humor regarding a heavy topic can be “silly,” she’s trying her best to keep “everything light and airy.”
Parton was expected to perform in Las Vegas in September. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
“They say that a happy heart is like good medicine,” she said. “You think I might be over medicating myself right now? But the truth is, I am still working.”
“I still do videos, I still record, I run up and down to Dollywood every now and then. And I’m working hard on getting my museum and my hotel open in Nashville later this year. And I am spending a lot of time writing and reworking on my Broadway musical. It’s called ‘Dolly, a true original musical. And that’s gonna be opening later in New York this fall or early winter.”
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Parton, then, announced her plans to pull the plug on her Las Vegas residency. According to Ticketmaster, Parton’s six shows in September have been canceled.
“I am truly sorry that I’m gonna miss all of you that had tickets to see me in Las Vegas,” she said. “Well, you get on to Vegas. You have a big time. And hopefully, sometime you’ll come up to New York and maybe see my show. And I’ll see you somewhere down the line.”
The country star initially postponed her Vegas shows in September. (Katherine Bomboy/NBC via Getty Images)
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Over the past year, fans have expressed concern for Parton since the death of her husband Carl Dean, who died March 3, 2025, at age 82 after 58 years of marriage.
“I just want you to know also that a lot of you have been concerned about me and Carl and you were so great about that,” she said in the video. “But after going through a year first, I mean the holidays, and especially our wedding anniversary and the day of his death, March 3rd, you know, that was hard for me. I will always love him and I’ll always miss him, but you would be surprised at how much your love and concern meant to me during that time.”
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Parton concluded the video by reassuring fans that she has a great medical team.
“I have great doctors and I’m doing really well and they assure me that everything I have is treatable,” she said. “So I’m going with that and I just want you to know I thank you for standing by me and that I will always love you.”