“Even though I’m still healin’, I’m still workin’,” she said.

Dolly Parton updates fans on ‘health issues’ 1 week after missing Dollywood event

“Even though I’m still healin’, I’m still workin’,” she said.

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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August 22, 2026 12:11 p.m. ET

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Dolly Parton in Nashville on May 19, 2025. Credit:

Jason Kempin/Getty

- Dolly Parton said that she has recently faced “hard times with my health.”

- “Even though I’m still healin’, I’m still workin’,” she added.

- Parton recently missed a scheduled appearance at her Dollywood theme park due to health issues.

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.”

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.

Dolly Parton in Los Angeles on Nov. 5, 2022.

Kevin Mazur/Getty

The “Jolene” singer’s latest update comes a week after she missed a scheduled appearance at an event at her Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Parton shared a video that was played at the event apologizing for her absence.

“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.”

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Parton has had a fairly turbulent 18 months. Following the death of her husband in March 2025, she postponed her Las Vegas residency in September, citing “health challenges,” and noted that she “must have a few procedures.”

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.”

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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.

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