Dolly Parton has released a new video to ease fans’ concerns over rumors of her health.
“I know lately everyone thinks I am sicker than I am. Do I look sick to you? I’m working hard here! I wanted to put everyone’s mind at ease,” Parton said in a video shared to social media on Wednesday.
“I appreciate your prayers. I want you to know I’m okay,” the 79-year-old country music star continued. “I’ve got some problems that I’ve mentioned. Back when my husband was sick… when he passed, I didn’t take care of myself. I let a lot of things do that I should have taken care of. When I got around to it, the doctor said, ‘We need to take care of this, we need to take care of that.’ Nothing major, but I did have to cancel some things so I could be closer to home, closer to Vanderbilt where I am having a few treatments.”
“I wanted you to know I’m not dying,” Parton added. She went on laugh about an AI picture she saw of Reba McEntire at her death bed, joking, “We both looked like we need to be buried. Oh my lord.”
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“Anyway, there are just a lot of rumors, I figured if you heard it from me, you’d know that I was okay,” Parton concluded. “I’m not ready to die yet. And I don’t think God is through with me, and I’m not done working.” As proof, Parton said she was filming the video in between takes for promo she was shooting for the Grand Ol’ Opry.
Yesterday, Parton’s sister, Freida, caused a stir when she took to Facebook to say she had “been all night praying for my sister, Dolly, and added, “Many of you know she hasn’t been feeling her best lately. I truly believe in the power of prayer, and I have been lead to ask all of the world that loves her to be prayer warriors and pray with me.”
Freida later issued a follow-up Facebook post in which she apologized for worrying fans. “I didn’t mean to scare anyone or make it sound so serious when asking for prayers for Dolly,” she wrote. A representative for Dolly further clarified to the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the singer is fine and waiting for a procedure to address kidney stones.
Last month, Dolly postponed a scheduled concert residency in Las Vegas, citing “some health challenges.” The shows have been rescheduled for September 2026.
I ain’t dead yet! pic.twitter.com/Mp553laadI
— Dolly Parton (@DollyParton) October 8, 2025