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Hold those tears: Dolly Parton declares 'I'm not ready to die yet' as she addresses health concerns

Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times on

Published in Entertainment News

What would Dolly do? Take it upon herself to address recent concerns over her health.

Beloved country music star and pop culture icon Dolly Parton opened up about her health on Wednesday, reassuring fans in a video shared to social media that she’s in better health than some might think. “Do I look sick to you? I’m working hard here,” she says in the video, shared to Instagram and X.

“I want you to know that I’m OK,” she said.

The 79-year-old “9 to 5” star sparked concern in recent weeks after pulling out of scheduled appearances and performances. In late September, she missed an event at her Dollywood amusement park due to kidney stones. More than a week after that absence, she called off numerous upcoming concerts in Las Vegas to address her health. She announced she would delay six concerts at Caesars Palace scheduled for December, but did not share additional information about her condition at the time.

In Wednesday’s video, which the singer said was taken in between filming commercials for the Grand Ole Opry, Parton explained that the death of her husband, Carl Dean, took a toll on her health. Dean died in March at age 82.

“When he passed, I didn’t take care of myself, so I let a lot of things go that should’ve been taken care of,” she continued. “So anyway, when I got around to it, the doctor said, ‘We need to take care of this, we need to take care of that.’”

She reassured fans that there was “nothing major” to worry about, but said she “had to cancel some things to be closer to home.” The Grammy winner added that she needs to be closer to Vanderbilt University, “where I’m having a few treatments here and there.”

The “Here You Come Again” singer did not disclose additional details about the medical care. Before Parton shared her video, her manager, Olly Rowland, told the Las Vegas Review-Journa l via text on Tuesday, “It’s just the kidney stones, and the procedure she needs to resolve those.”

 

Alarm over the singer’s health reached a head Tuesday when her younger sister Freida Parton wrote on Facebook that her concern for Dolly had kept her “ up all night praying.” She called on fans to “to be prayer warriors and pray with me” as the beloved multi-hyphenate deals with unspecified health issues.

Hours later, Freida penned a second Facebook post to clarify her initial statement: “I didn’t mean to scare anyone or make it sound so serious when asking for prayers for Dolly.”

Freida repeated in her later post that her sister has “been a little under the weather” and said she “simply asked for prayers because I believe so strongly in the power of prayer.” She added that the note was nothing more “than a little sister asking for prayers for her big sister.”

The prayers are not for naught, Dolly Parton told fans on Wednesday. The singer, who noted she is a “person of faith,” reassured fans, “I can always use the prayers for anything and everything.” Parton also encouraged her followers to be on their toes regarding “rumors” about her health and AI photos — including one alleged snap she says depicts fellow country star Reba McEntire at her death bed. “We both looked like we need to be buried,” Parton joked about the fake photo.

In case it wasn’t clear enough, Parton reiterated, “I’m not ready to die yet.”

“I don’t think God is through with me and I ain’t done working,” she said in closing. “I love you for caring and keep praying for me.”

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