Entertainment

Dolly Parton gives health update after recent events

August 23, 2026 5:00 pm

Source: Entertainment Weekly

Dolly Parton is sharing another update on her health.

The 9 to 5 star acknowledged that she has recently experienced “hard times with my health” in a new interview with PEOPLE. “I am dealing with some health issues that I just didn’t pay attention to when I was watching over Carl,” she said in reference to her late husband Carl Thomas Dean, who died in 2025 at 82.

Parton thinks that her recent health situation has received far more attention that it would have in a previous era.

“It’s not like I haven’t been through hard times with my health,” she said, noting that she was “down for several months with female issues” at one point in the 1980s. “But I think because we live in a 24/7 world with social media, everything gets magnified in ways it wasn’t years ago.”

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She continued, “I used to joke that I was the Queen of the Tabloids, but now I guess I can say I’m the Queen of Social Media AI!”

Parton indicated that she’s on the mend. “Seriously, though, even though I’m still healin’, I’m still workin’,” she said.

“I’m still in Nashville, and I’m sorry about that,” she said. “I was supposed to be in person, like we planned.”

Parton said that she was facing a bout of dehydration. “Now, I’ve told you before, all my fans, that I’ve had a few little health issues, and sometimes I get a little dizzy, and I get dehydrated,” she explained. “Now I’m dehydrated, and so my Nashville doctor kind of clipped my wings, saying, ‘You ain’t traveling this week.’ So I guess if your doctor tells you you ain’t traveling this week, you ain’t traveling this week!”

She added, “All is going well on the medical end of things.”

After missing other scheduled events, Parton made her first public appearance in months at a Dollywood celebration in March 2026, where she briefly touched on her health and discussed the impact of Dean’s death.

“I’ve not been touring, as you know. I’ve had a few little health issues, and we’re taking good care of them. I just kind of got worn down and worn out, grieving over Carl and a lot of other little things going on,” she said. “I just got myself kind of where I needed to build myself back up spiritually, emotionally, and physically. But, all is good. It didn’t slow me down.”

In May, Parton fully canceled her delayed Las Vegas residency and shared another health update as she announced the news.

“I’m responding really well to meds and treatments, and I’m improving every day,” the “I Will Always Love You” singer said. “I’ve told you before that I’ve always had problems with my kidney stones…Lord, they dig more stones out of me a year than the rock quarry in Rockwood, Tenn. But seriously, my immune system and my digestive system got all out of whack over the past couple of years, and they’re working real hard on rebuilding their strength.”

Parton recently made a surprise appearance at an event in Cornersville, Tenn., to celebrate the opening of her Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop in June.