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Dolly Parton is still working — but her schedule looks very different from what it once did.
The country music legend has scaled back several public appearances over the past year, including events connected to Dollywood, awards ceremonies, and a planned Las Vegas residency.
Credit: Dollywood
Parton has not disappeared from public life entirely. She appeared at Dollywood in March and attended the June opening of the first Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop, while continuing to promote projects in Tennessee.
Still, her absence from a major Dollywood celebration earlier this month raised fresh questions about her health.
Parton had been expected at the Pigeon Forge theme park for the opening of NightFlight Expedition. Instead, she appeared by video after doctors advised her against traveling.
She told fans that she sometimes gets “a little dizzy” and can become dehydrated. Parton joked that her doctor had “kind of clipped my wings” before giving her a firm instruction: “You ain’t travelin’ this week, you ain’t travelin’ this week.”
@walruscarp Dolly Parton’s Speech for NightFlight Expedition with great news about her health. She was missed but thank you Miss Dolly for such a great park and new attraction! #dollyparton #dollywood #dollywoodthemepark #nightflightexpedition #pigeonforge
Now, the 80-year-old singer has offered more insight into what has been happening behind the scenes.
Dolly Parton Opens Up About Recent Health Struggles
Speaking to PEOPLE, Parton acknowledged that she has been going through some “hard times with my health.”
She connected some of those problems to the period surrounding the illness of her late husband, Carl Thomas Dean, who died in 2025 at age 82.
Parton said she was “dealing with some health issues that I just didn’t pay attention to when I was watching over Carl.”
Credit: Disney
She did not identify a specific diagnosis or provide further details about her current condition.
Instead, Parton stressed that health problems are not new territory for her — although the intense attention surrounding them is.
“It’s not like I haven’t been through hard times with my health,” she says. “But I think because we live in a 24/7 world with social media, everything gets magnified in ways it wasn’t years ago.”
Parton 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! Seriously, though, even though I’m still healin’, I’m still workin’.”
That work is increasingly taking forms that do not require the extensive travel of Parton’s earlier career.
Credit: Dollywood
She has said that traditional touring is likely behind her and revealed that “avatar performances” are in the early stages of development.
Parton is also preparing Dolly’s Life of Many Colors Museum in Nashville, billed as the “largest exhibit celebrating her life anywhere in the world.”
The museum will cover her career and personal history, adding another major Parton-focused attraction to Tennessee beyond Dollywood.
Her latest comments arrive after a string of occasions on which health issues have forced her to adjust her plans.
Parton was also absent from Dollywood in September 2025 when the park first revealed NightFlight Expedition. She appeared by prerecorded video after a kidney stone caused an infection, and her doctor advised her not to travel.
Credit: Dollywood
She later missed several high-profile events outside the theme park.
Parton did not attend the November 2025 ceremony, where she received the Academy’s Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. She was also absent from her IAAPA Hall of Fame induction in Orlando.
Her planned Dolly: Live in Las Vegas residency was also axed.
The six-show engagement was originally scheduled for December 2025, then postponed until September 2026 before being canceled as Parton continued medical treatment and recovery.
Five days after the recent NightFlight Expedition dedication, she also accepted the ACM Honors Poet’s Award virtually rather than attending the Nashville event.
Dolly Parton Remains Closely Tied to Dollywood
Those absences have inevitably raised questions about how often Parton will appear at Dollywood going forward.
For now, there is no suggestion that she is stepping away from the Tennessee theme park she has co-owned with Herschend since 1986.
Her March appearance demonstrated that she still intends to participate in person when possible.
During that visit, Parton met season passholders and media and spoke about NightFlight Expedition. It was described as her first public appearance in months.
Her influence is also built throughout Dollywood regardless of whether she is physically there.
The Dolly Parton Experience explores her life through Songteller, fashion exhibition Behind the Seams, and family-focused Precious Memories. Guests can also see her former tour bus and shop for Parton merchandise nearby.
Elsewhere in the park, Dolly’s Tennessee Mountain Home recreates the two-room house where she grew up on Locust Ridge.
Dollywood also presents Heartsong, a multisensory film narrated by Parton, while DreamSong regularly features members of her family performing her music.
Credit: Dollywood
Another major opening is also approaching away from the park.
Dolly Parton’s SongTeller Hotel is expected to open in Nashville in September. It remains unclear whether Parton will attend its opening in person.
Her recent health comments suggest that future appearances may continue to depend on how she is feeling and the advice of her doctors.
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