‘STILL HEALIN’
The country icon says she’s continuing to work on new projects as she heals.
By Pia Bello
Dolly Parton has opened up about her health after a difficult year, and she’s making it clear that she’s not retiring anytime soon.
The 80-year-old country music star told People on Aug. 21 that she has been going through some “hard times with [her] health.” Still, she’s continuing to work and pursue new projects.
“It’s not like I haven’t been through hard times with my health,” Parton said. “But I think because we live in a 24/7 world with social media, everything gets magnified in ways it wasn’t years ago.”
The ten-time Grammy winner said some of her symptoms began while she was caring for her late husband, Carl Thomas Dean, but she “didn’t pay attention” to them at the time.
Dean died in March 2025 at age 82 after a long illness. While the exact cause of his death was not detailed, Parton previously told The Independent that her husband had been “ill for quite a while” before his passing.
The low-profile couple first met in a Nashville laundromat on the day Parton moved to the city in 1964. They wed in a small private ceremony in Ringgold, Georgia, in 1966 and were married for almost 60 years until his death.
Parton has spoken sparingly about Dean over the years, but after his death, she said she would continue to carry his memory with her “into the next 50 years whether he wants to or not!”
Her health concerns became more public later in 2025, when she postponed her Las Vegas residency. In May 2026, she announced that the residency would ultimately be canceled, explaining that ongoing treatments for her health issues had left her “a little swimmy headed.”
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“Of course, I can’t be dizzy carrying around banjos, guitars, and such on five-inch heels—and you know that I’m going to be wearing them,” she said in a May 4 Instagram post.
Just last week, Parton also missed the opening of Dollywood’s newest attraction, NightFlight Expedition, after her doctors advised her not to travel to the Tennessee theme park.
In a video message shared for the Aug. 14 event, Parton said she sometimes gets “a little dizzy” and “dehydrated,” adding that she was, in fact, dehydrated at the time.
“So my Nashville doctor has kind of clipped my wings,” she joked, recalling her doctor telling her, “You ain’t traveling this week.”
Still, Parton remains as busy as ever. In October 2025, she announced plans for the Life of Many Colors Museum in downtown Nashville, which she says will be the largest exhibit celebrating her life anywhere in the world.
She’s also working on a new line of dog treats with Purina and preparing to launch Cup of Ambition Coffee, a longtime dream inspired by her 1980 song “9 to 5.”
She’s also exploring a new way to bring her music to fans through avatar performances, which she told People are currently in the “early stages of development.”
Despite the health setbacks, Parton says she’s still moving forward.
“Seriously, though, even though I’m still healin’, I’m still workin’,” she said.
