Legendary country singer Dolly Parton, 79, wants to reassure her uneasy fans after rumors of her health possibly deteriorating spread across the internet.
Discussion about the state of Parton’s well-being hit a fever pitch on Oct. 7 when her 68-year-old sister, Frieda Parton, posted a concerning message on Facebook.
“Last night, I was up all night praying for my sister, Dolly. Many of you know she hasn’t been feeling her best lately,” Frieda shared with her 37,000 followers. She continued on talking about the power of prayer and saying, “I know in my heart she’s going to be just fine. Godspeed, my sissy Dolly. We all love you!” without any context.
This Steamy 1982 Throwback of Dolly Parton Has Fans Wondering About the Identity of ‘Jolene’
Hours later, Frieda clarified her remarks about Parton in a separate post that same day. She wrote on Facebook, “I didn’t mean to scare anyone or make it sound so serious when asking for prayers for Dolly.”
She claimed her sister had “been a little under the weather” and she was simply “asking for prayers for her big sister.”
On Sept. 8, Parton returned to clear the air herself amid the growing worry among her supporters. “I ain’t dead yet!” the Grammy Award winner captioned a video posted on her social media accounts.
The country singer revealed she was filming Grand Ole Opry commercials as she sat in front of a green screen. The cameraperson zoomed in for a close-up of the “9 to 5” hitmaker to capture her words.
“Lately, everybody thinks that I am sicker than I am. Do I look sick to you? I’m working hard here,” Parton said. “Anyway, I wanted to put everybody’s mind at ease.”
The self-described person of faith went on to say she appreciated people’s prayers before recalling previous health concerns around the time her late husband, Carl Dean, fell ill.
Dolly and Carl first met in 1964. The couple wed two years later at a private ceremony in Georgia. They renewed their vows in 2016. Carl passed away in March 2025 at the age of 82.
“I’ve got some problems, as I mentioned back when my husband Carl was very sick, that was for a long time. Then, when he passed, I didn’t take care of myself,” Dolly admitted in the video.
The “Steel Magnolias” actress added, “So I let a lot of things go that I should have been taking care of. So when I got around to it, the doctors said, ‘We need to take care of this.’”
Dolly’s “health challenges” and personal life also forced the postponement of her upcoming Colosseum at Caesars Palace concerts in Las Vegas, which were set to be part of her first residency in over 30 years.
Well-wishers expressed relief that the “Jolene” singer spoke up about her health, but her appearance in the video caused more concern from some. Two Daily Mail readers claimed, “She actually looks gaunt” and “She looks wiped out,” pointing to a much deeper issue.
“I think she looks horrible. Something serious going on,” noted a third.
A fourth said, “Her face does look thinner as if she hasn’t had much of an appetite which is totally understandable due to what she has been experiencing. She is a wonderful entertainer and a human being.”
On the contrary, most fans were happy to see Parton is still working as one Instagram user commented, “Don’t scare us all, Dolly. This year is rough enough! You are a treasure.”
Dolly was booked to headline six performances in Las Vegas from Dec. 4 to 13. Those shows have been pushed back to September 2026 due to her undisclosed health issues.
“It must be time for my 100,000-mile checkup, although it’s not the usual trip to see my plastic surgeon!” Dolly jokingly wrote in a statement released on Sept. 28.
The Kennedy Center Honors recipient also stated, “In all seriousness, given this, I am not going to be able to rehearse and put together the show that I want you to see, and the show that you deserve to see.”
Dolly has dropped over four dozen albums throughout her seven-decade music career. During an appearance on Khloé Kardashian’s podcast in July, the Country Music Hall of Famer told the reality television star that she had stopped writing songs since her husband passed.
