Dolly Parton Updates Fans on ‘Serious Business’ About Her Health

• Dolly Parton shared a new health update with fans in an Instagram video.
• Though she didn’t specify exactly what health issues she’s facing, Parton noted previous challenges with her kidney health as well as weakened immune and digestive systems.
• Parton also revealed that medication side effects forced her to cancel her upcoming Las Vegas shows.

Dolly Parton shared “some good news, and a little bad news,” about her health in an Instagram reel posted across her various social media accounts on Monday, May 4.

“The good news is, I’m responding really well to meds and treatments, and I’m improving every day,” Parton said.

Though the country music icon didn’t specify exactly what she’s being treated for, she noted that she’s “always had problems with my kidney stones,” joking that “they dig more stones out of me a year than the rock quarry in Rockwood, Tennessee.”

Parton further elaborated that her immune and digestive systems “got all out of whack over the past three years,” and that her care team is “working real hard on rebuilding and strengthening those.”

She also apologized to fans for needing to cancel her previously postponed Las Vegas shows “because some of the meds and treatments make me a little bit swimmy-headed … and of course, I can’t be dizzy carrying around banjos, guitars and such on five-inch heels.”

The new update comes only eight months after Parton originally announced on Instagram that she needed to postpone her Las Vegas concerts due to “health challenges” she was facing that would require “a few procedures.”

However, despite the “serious business” of her current health, Parton assured fans that she is “doing really well” and has “great doctors” who told her “everything I have is treatable.”

Though Parton said “it’s going to take me a little while before I’m up to stage-performance level,” she hopes to be “up to snuff again soon” and intends to continue working during her recovery.

“The truth is, I am still working. I still do videos. I still record. I run up and down to Dollywood now and then,” Parton said.

She also noted that she’s “working hard on getting my museum and my hotel open in Nashville later this year,” as well as “spending a lot of time writing and reworking” her upcoming Broadway musical, Dolly: A True Original Musical, which is set to open in “fall or early winter” of 2026.

Parton also thanked fans for the outpouring of love and support she received following the death of her husband, Carl Dean.

Dean, who married Parton in 1966 and largely stayed out of the public spotlight throughout their decades-long marriage, passed away on March 3, 2025, at the age of 82.

“A lot of you’ve been concerned about me and Carl, and you were so great about that,” she said in the video. “I will always love him, and I will always miss him, but you would be surprised at how much your love and concern meant to me during that time.”

“From the bottom of my heart, I thank you,” she continued. “You have been a big part of my healing.”

Despite the challenges she’s faced, Parton told fans she remains optimistic about the future and grateful for the support she continues to receive, noting in the video’s caption, “I’ve still got some healing to do, but I am on my way!”